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It Chapter 2 – Review

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.

Sat listening to an interceptor radio in a dingy cellar, Mike hears about the boy’s dismembered body. He links the tell-tale signs together and quickly discovers that Pennywise is back. The Loser’s didn’t kill him, they simply ‘altered his path’. Having made a blood pact 27 years earlier, Mike reaches out to all of his estranged friends to demand that they return to Derry and end Pennywise once and for all.

We’re then reintroduced to every member of the gang. As adults they’ve achieved varying levels of success in different states; Richie (Bill Hader) has become a famous stand-up comedian, Bill (James McAvoy) a revered writer, Eddie (James Ransone) a risk assessor for a big insurance company, Ben (Jay Ryan) the founder of a multimillion-dollar architectural company, and Beverly (Jessica Chastain) the wife of a powerful and wealthy man.

Despite their professional achievements, under the surface each member has been deeply jaded by the war against Pennywise, but their memories are suppressed – not by the trauma inflicted upon them, but by their physical disconnection to Derry. Mike was the only one who stayed behind, and is forced to carry the burden of remembering, and making the others remember.

After assembling back in their hometown the memories almost immediately start coming back, and so does Bill’s stutter. Mike then instructs each member to trace their memories alone and go on personal journeys to recall a particularly scarring moment with Pennywise, which allows them to collect a physical memento/’token’ to be used against him in the final showdown.

Once I’d left the theatre (and my adrenal gland had reached its happy equilibrium), I realised the film basically unfolded in three stages: the introduction which ended with the gang reassembling in Derry, the personal journeys which contained the majority of formulaic thrills, and lastly the final showdown & resolution.

The introduction and ending are undoubtedly the strongest elements and provide the most endearing and affecting moments that elevate IT Chapter 2 way beyond the simple horror flicks of today. The middle section does meander slightly.

We’re all for lots of Pennywise, but as you can imagine, five lengthy memories just seem a little too much. By the fifth with Eddie I was almost desensitised to the scares and waiting for the story to progress – or so I thought till the final harrowing 30-40 mins humbled me in front of my pals.

The performances are exceptional throughout, which is a testament to the casting. The respective likeness to their young spritely counterparts is spot on from every member of the Loser’s club, and this helps to bolster a middle section which fails to push the plot forward or delve into psychological elements explored in King’s shorthand.

IT Chapter 2 does kinda miss a trick with the message it’s trying to portray too. It never really considers whether adulthood offers the means to let go of the past. Its monster only occasionally embodies the otherworldly fearfulness that provokes the characters to speak of it in hushed tones.

Muschietti has to be rewarded for his ambition though. Although this doesn’t reach levels of greatness as say The Shawshank Redemption, it comes within touching distance. With so many characters to explore, he couldn’t have really done a better job unless the film exceeded upward of 4 to 5 hours.

Personally, I’d say that Chapter 2 – along with the first – is the best horror adaption from King’s horror library to date, and it offers plenty for adventure and comedy fans too.

King’s Stan Lee-esque cameo alone sent my estimations of the film skyrocketing.

4
out of 5

Colourful atmosphere is traded in for far more scares here.

The second half of King's novel is handled about as well as it could've been by Muschietti

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