'It Chapter Two'—You'll Laugh Too!

Last night, I saw an advance screening of It Chapter Two. I will keep this review spoiler-free, so fear not, and read along!

Expectations

Just so people have an idea of where I'm coming from, I have seen the previous movie, and I thought it was well-made and well-acted. But I did not buy into the hype the way other people have. Part of it is due to how tired I am of seeing media in which clowns are feared.

I do consider myself a horror fan. I've even written horror with comedy myself. But going into It Chapter Two, I was not expecting it to be scarier than the first movie since it did not scare me a whole lot in the first place. With that being the case, I was very open to how comedic this sequel felt. I thought the comedy seemed intentional, though I've been told that it seemed unintentional. I suppose that my line of thinking was that it would be difficult for the filmmakers to make the sequel that could top the first movie horror-wise (which I now realize is not too far off from Pennywise), so they might as well make it fresh by trying to balance horror with comedy. If that was their intention, then I quite like that approach. It feels reminiscent of the first two Evil Dead movies.

That is not to say that there are no completely scary moments whatsoever. Early on in the film, there is a very unsettling depiction of people beating someone based on his sexual orientation. I actually thought that this subject matter would be the main focus of the movie. It does pop up once in a while, but it did not take the spotlight as much as I was expecting just based on the beginning of the film. Regardless, there are other moments of intensity as the Losers get back together and face their past. But again, there is humor laced within some of these moments.

Continuity

I was surprised by the amount of flashbacks to when the Losers were younger. Going into the movie, I was expecting it to just be the adult cast, which would have made it feel like a weird disconnect. Especially when only two years have passed in our world and 27 years have passed in-universe. The flashbacks felt purposeful, as they effectively reminded us that these adult characters are indeed the kids we followed in the first film. And the guilt that they carry with them regarding certain things feels very believable.

A Stray Observation

Another thing I'd like to add is that it can feel very cliche when a character in a movie is trying to write a story, and then needs the experience of what happens in the movie to figure out how to finish writing the story. This film feels like it falls into that trap a bit. At the start, Bill has to write a new ending to a film based on his novel because people hated his ending. This feels like it may possibly be a reference to how some people may feel about Stephen King's original It novel. Since I have never read it, I am not privy to any changes that may have been made. So it's possible that this may be something that went over my head. But as a novelist, I could kind of relate to Bill's sentiment at the beginning, which is that stories sometimes should not have happy endings, since there are instances where stories feel more real if they end on a grim note.

Verdict

As I have said before, It is not a series that I devour religiously. But this sequel was well-crafted, creepy when it needed to be, and funny throughout. It feels very much like a continuation of the previous film, with adults facing their childhood fears. So if you really liked that, you might enjoy this follow-up. It is sometimes predictable, which may make it feel like the long runtime is not justified. But I would give it the following rating:

7.5/10—A good movie with great character interactions that build upon what we saw before. If you are invested in the characters as they were depicted in the first film, then you might want to watch this one.