“Something happens to you when you leave this town. The farther away, the hazier it gets. But me, I never left, I remember all of it.”
Release Date: September 6, 2019
Length: 2H 49M
Genre: Horror
MPAA: 14A
It (2017) was a film that I was really looking forward to for a long time. I was able to attend an advanced screening of it back in September of 2017, and I wrote a review on it (posted above). I ended up going back to the theatre two more times in its theatrical run, I absolutely loved it and I loved going with people who didn’t see it yet to talk about it and see their reactions afterwards. It (2017) actually was my number 7 favourite film of that year.
Needless to say, I was very excited for the continuation of the It saga as soon as it was confirmed to be in production. I thought they really nailed the casting of the adult versions of the kids in Chapter Two, and I was excited to spend more time in this universe. I didn’t need to see the trailer, so I skipped watching it (much like I did the original – I find lately trailers give too much away), I knew I wanted to see this movie and it was one of my most anticipated of the year. So let’s see how this film wraps up the adventure of The Loser’s Club.
It Chapter Two is a Horror movie set 27 years after the first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back.
It Chapter Two is directed by Andy Muschetti. His filmography consists of It (2017). I was very excited when it was announced that Muschetti was coming back to direct It Chapter Two; I mean I thought he nailed the atmosphere of the original film, so I was excited to see where this one went. I thought there were some scenes in this movie that went on for a bit too long, but in the same breath the I felt the pacing of this film was really well done. There were a few times I was saying to myself “Okay this scene is a bit too long” but right after I started thinking it, the scene would switch. It was an almost 3 hour movie, that absolutely didn’t feel like 3 hours.
It Chapter Two was written by Gary Dauberman and based on the novel by the illustrious Stephen King. Dauberman’s filmography consists of Annabelle (2014), Annabelle: Creation (2017), It (2017), and Annabelle Comes Home (2019). Dauberman’s filmography is hit and miss for me. I did not enjoy the original Annabelle (2014) or Annabelle Comes Home (2019). But I thought It (2017) was really well writren, it was funny and it had a lot of heart. Each character was well developed. Annabelle Creation (2017) was the best Annabelle film in the franchise so far. (I say so far because they’ve been really milking the Conjuring Universe films, and we know after watching Annabelle Comes Home earlier this year and the amount of time that they put into showing us all this stuff without a lot of world building, that they’ll be a bunch more of those films. It Chapter Two felt like the first chapter, the characters were well written and there was a lot of comedic elements that I felt really broke up the scarier bits.
It Chapter Two stars Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh, James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough, Bill Hader as Richie Tozier, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon, Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom, James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak, Andy Bean as Stanley Uris, and Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise.
Jessica Chastain’s filmography consists of The Debt (2010), Take Shelter (2011), The Tree Of Life (2011), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Interstellar (2014), A Most Violent Year (2014), The Martian (2015), Crimson Peak (2015), and The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017). Chastain is wonderful in everything she is in. It’s getting to the point for me that if she is in a movie, I automatically want to see it. I was a bit torn when she was first announced to be playing adult Beverly in It Chapter Two because I thought the role should’ve went to Amy Adams. But after watching this movie, I’ll completely take that back. I thought Chastain absolutely nailed Beverly.
James McAvoy’s filmography consists of Band Of Brothers {TV Mini-Series} (2001), X-Men: First Class (2011), Arthur Christmas (2011), X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014), Split (2016), Atomic Blonde (2017), and Glass (2019). McAvoy these days is really making a name for himself and is really stretching his acting chops. He’s absolutely one to watch after seeing Split (2016) and Glass (2019) where he was able to play a person with multiple personalities and each one being completely different. I thought McAvoy did a great job (as he always does) playing Bill in It Chapter Two.
Bill Hader’s filmography consists of Knocked Up (2007), Hot Rod (2007), Superbad (2007), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Grand Theft Auto IV {Video Game} (2008), Pineapple Express (2008), Tropic Thunder (2008), Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (2009), Paul (2011), Monster’s University (2013), Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (2013), South Park: The Stick Of Truth {Video Game} (2014), Inside Out (2015), Sausage Party (2016), and Finding Dory (2016). What is there to say about Hader that hasn’t already been said. The man is underrated and hilarious. This was my favourite casting for the adult Losers Club (also its fun to note a little trivia that Finn Wolfhard wanted Hader to play the adult version of Ritchie in the sequel).
James Ransone’s filmgraphy consists of The Wire {TV Series} (2003), Inside Man (2006), The Next Three Days (2010), Sinister (2012), Tangerine (2015), Mr. Right (2015). Boy, but of all the casting of the adult Losers Club, they couldn’t have found anyone better than James Ransone to play the adult Eddie. It literally looks like the kid from the original film, but grown up. I also thought Ransone did a great job in this movie.
Bill Skarsgard’s filmgraphy consists of Atomic Blonde (2017), It (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Castle Rock {TV Series} (2018). Bill Skarsgard is ABSOLUTELY terrifying in the role of Pennywise. His subtle movements, his mannerisms and his haunting laugh, just always got to me. Its hard to outmatch Tim Curry, who played Pennywise in the It Mini series in 1990, but I think Skarsgard does a better job.
All the acting in It: Chapter Two was really well done. I think they absolutely nailed the adult counterparts to the kids from the original film. I have absolutely no problems with the cast in this movie. Good chemistry, and you could tell that they enjoyed themselves making this film.
The atmosphere of this movie was near on par with the creepiness of the original film. There were scenes where the atmosphere was like a sheet of fog ready to be pulled back. It was eerie.
I still can’t put my finger on what I didn’t like about the movie. I came out of the movie liking it, but there was stuff that held me back to loving it. I don’t know if it was my hype level being elevated or what. I wasn’t as involved with the story as I thought I would be. I also thought that some of the scenes did not have the closure or the payoff that I wanted. They relied a lot on jump scares, which some really worked, but some you were able to pin point the lead up to it. Maybe I’m just getting old after seeing so many horror movies, but traditional jump scares really do not do it for me anymore.
It Chapter Two is not a bad movie, but it is not as good as It (2017), but thats okay. I don’t think Chapter Two was as fresh feeling as It (2017), but they went for the fences on this film and I appreciate the work involved.
It Chapter Two (2019) gets a 3.5/5 from me.
If you enjoyed It (2017), you don’t need for me to tell you that you should see this movie. I do recommend it, but theres something about it for me that is holding me back on loving it.
Also if you’re a fan of Stephen King in general and know some of his history on books he’s written or history, this film has some really nice homages to his other works. Theres also an homage to my favourite horror movie of all time, but that I wont spoil. Let me know if you catch it when you see it!
Until Next Time,
Andrew.
P.S. stay tuned for a special Inspirational Movie Monday on monday.