It Chapter Two (2019)

Directed by: Andy Muschietti | 169 minutes | horror | Actors: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Wyatt Oleff, Jack Dylan Grazer, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Teach Grant, Nicholas Hamiltoon, Javier Botet, Xavier Dolan, Taylor Frey, Molly Atkinson

The Losers Club is back, 27 years after the horrors they experienced in the small town of Derry. Though they thought and hoped they had defeated It, the monster is still very much alive. Dressed up again in his favorite guise of Pennywise, the dancing clown, the cycle of murders in ‘It Chapter Two’ begins again.

Six of the seven moved away from Maine and made their fortune in the world. All six are successful in their fields: Bill (James McAvoy) as a writer and screenwriter, Beverly (Jessica Chastain) as a fashion designer, Ben (Jay Ryan) as an architect, Eddie (James Ransone) as a risk analyst, Richie (Bill Hader) as a stand-up comedian and Stan (Andy Bean) as an accountant. Only Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) has guarded the fort all these years, studying the backgrounds of It in his residence above the Derry library. When the aggravated assault of a gay couple turns into a gruesome murder by Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård), Mike calls up his old childhood friends. They have long since lost contact with each other and the others have forgotten everything. When Mike calls them, their repressed memories slowly come back. Each one of them must make a tough choice: will they come back to fight It again? They’ve promised each other, but 27 years is a long time – and as their memories grow stronger, so do their fears.

Pennywise, meanwhile, seems to be looking forward to another showdown to avenge his injury and put an end to his challengers once and for all. For this he also enlists the help of Henry Bowers (Teach Grant) who murdered his father in part 1 – and was also blamed for the other murders. Bowers has been in a mental institution all these years, but can easily escape when Pennywise sends the corpse of Patrick Hockstetter (Owen Teague) as a driver and assistant. Mike thinks he’s found the way to beat It, but is this true?

After the great success of ‘It’ in 2017, a second part was inevitable. And finally, there was also half a book that was screaming to be made into a movie. Director Andy Muschietti takes the second part of Stephen King’s masterful novel and manages to deliver another horrifying and at times oppressive film with ‘It Chapter Two’. A clever idea is to add flashback scenes, in which the younger versions of the main characters also come along and add more depth to the storyline. That means Jaeden Martell, formerly Lieberher (Bill), Sophia Lillis (Beverly), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben), Jack Dylan Glazer (Eddie), Finn Wolfhard (Richie), Wyatt Oleff (Stan), and Chosen Jacobs (Mike) are also appear in the film again. What is immediately noticeable is the almost perfect casting of the protagonists. The adult actors all physically resemble their younger “selves”, creating an organic whole at crucial points by adding the flashbacks. Humor, black and otherwise, is more emphatically present this time. In an apparently unnecessary addition to the book, one of the main characters is homosexual. Although it comes somewhat out of the blue, it is ultimately an inspired choice, which gives both the beginning of the film and the end extra resonance. In short: you want to spend hours with the Losers Club, so much so that Pennywise’s craziness actually feels like an unwelcome distraction.

The film lasts almost three hours and strangely enough it sometimes feels that way, but especially in the horror scenes. Although Skarsgård also puts in a fantastic performance as Pennywise and his other appearances, the sense of repetition is starting to set in. Muschietti always opts for the same shock effects, but gradually that becomes somewhat predictable. Then the effect becomes less and less. And that while the make-up artists and special effects employees deliver top performances to portray Pennywise and his horror cabinet full of horrors as inventively as possible. ‘It Chapter Two’ is highly surreal and doesn’t look like a bucket of blood or anything less. One of the most memorable horror scenes is a tribute to ‘The Thing’ (the John Carpenter version from 1981) – instantly recognizable to connoisseurs of that horror classic.

‘It: Chapter Two’ is at its strongest when following King’s book. That sounds like a paradox, especially when it comes to the ending (more on that below), but in setting up storylines that get creepier, there’s no greater master than King. For example, the scene in which the adult Beverly visits her old house is largely lifted from the novel. It is precisely where other choices are made that the storyline becomes more frayed and less convincing. For example, the makers have added a tribe of Native Americans, who have put Mike on the track of a possible victory. It creates loose threads and raises questions that are never fully answered satisfactorily. The “talismans” to be collected are an original find, which does not turn out as hoped. And then there’s the addition of boy Dean (Luke Roessler), who lives in Bill’s old house and has two encounters with members of the Losers Club. Those scenes just don’t seem right. Inadequately thought out, poorly executed – or is the character perhaps an illusion of Pennywise? The latter is an intriguing thought, but why do other characters interact with him so strangely? King’s careful build-up around the adult Henry Bowers is not used to its full potential in the film. It remains with a handful of short scenes that do not connect well with the rest. What is a nice find is the small role that Stephen King himself plays as owner of a second-hand shop. Also in his dialogue with McAvoys Bill the ‘running gag’ comes across that Bill is unable to knit good endings to his stories. It is a well-known criticism of King himself. The film repeats the joke about a mediocre ending about four times, which makes you think that the makers already wanted to cover themselves a bit for their not quite successful final act.

Admittedly, the original ending of King’s novel with the ultimate showdown between the losers and it relies heavily on the more psychological elements. The book ending is actually unfilmable with its mental battles. Also, except for a minor reference, the presence of Maturin the turtle has disappeared, not to mention the massive destruction of the city of Derry itself. While the 1990 miniseries also struggled with its ending in what was clearly its weakest part – that should have been a warning to Muschietti and his team. Unfortunately, they also failed to close with a climax. Their final choice to fight Pennywise is understandable, but somewhat disappointing.