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The Loser Club’s return to Derry is far more harrowing 27 years on, but Muschetti’s story is inevitably less colourful.
Stephen King’s IT was always going to be a smash hit at the box office. But not many foresaw Pennywise becoming an iconic figure akin to the likes of Christopher Nolan’s Joker. From the moment those voracious eyes illuminated that murky sewer drain in the opening scene we were hooked and come the end credits people were begging (none louder than me) for a sequel.
As a huge fan of King myself, I was always confident New Line Cinema and John Muschetti would return to tell the rest of the story, with the first film’s end aligning almost smack bang in the middle of King’s 1100-page novel. The fact the film boasted the highest grossing opening weekend in the genre’s history all but secured this as an inevitability.
What do you know? Two years later and the sequel has arrived, nigh-on replicating the success of its predecessor in its opening weekend. But does it live up to the lofty heights set by Muschetti’s chilling foray into Derry?
The answer comes down to a matter of personal taste. The Loser Club’s story is far bleaker and less colourful this time around, perhaps alluding to the loss of youth and the undentable courage that goes with it. Each of the kids had their problems growing up, but now they’re forced to face them head on as flawed adults without anyone to shield them, and truthfully, they’re as underequipped now as they always were.
The film begins with a shocking and disturbing scene which sets the tone for the rest of the 2h 50m experience. Derry is a charming and quaint town, but anyone who watched the first film will know it’s not the most inclusive and accepting town. A young homosexual couple are tailed from the local fairground to a nearby bridge by a gang of local thugs, after a brief standoff they’re assaulted violently, and the more defiant boy is thrown over the edge of the bridge and into the stream. Hazard a guess as to who arrives to lend a ‘helping hand’ – suffice to say it’s grim… so very grim.
It’s then that we understand that 27 years have passed in Derry signifying the return of Pennywise; the self-proclaimed ‘Eater of Worlds’ in the ‘alluring’ form of the clown. We’re reintroduced to Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) who is still clearly preoccupied with Pennywise and making sure it never returns. Remember him? The kid who refused to kill the sheep. Liked him from the start.
