Listen Here
By: Dylan Frazier
Email: frazierd@findlay.edu
Twitter: @dylanfrazier44
The much anticipated, IT Chapter 2, came out last Friday and is getting some mixed reactions. Some say it drags and isn’t nearly as scary as its predecessor (it wasn’t), others appreciate how well it stayed true to the book. With its nearly three-hour runtime, it definetly feels long at times but a loaded cast and enough jump scares makes IT Chapter 2 a perfectly serviceable horror movie.
The story picks up 27 years after the Losers Club first met Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Each character has moved on with their lives after defeating Pennywise the first time, except for Mike (Isaiah Mustafa). When a report of a brutal murder, involving dismemberment, peaks Mike’s interest, this leads him to call the rest of the Losers Club to bring them back to Derry, Maine; like they all promised 27 years before to defeat Pennywise once and for all.
My main issue with the movie was the middle part, as it felt very formulaic. Each member of the Losers Club had to find something they left behind in Derry as a child to end Pennywise once and for all. Each member found their artifact, but the movie showed no variation as to how they found their artifact. It went flashback, seeing Pennywise, then finding for each of them. The flashbacks were so constant that it made the movie stop in its tracks. If they made this about 20 minutes shorter, it would have been a much better movie.
Another issue, not as big as the first, was that Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) was not in the movie nearly enough. He’s the big draw in this movie, the scary clown that kills children. Skarsgård just does it so well and to not have him in the movie as much as the first one did was a bit disappointing. However, this movie was much more of an adventure movie mixed with horror elements, while the first movie was a horror movie mixed with adventure elements. So, it may have been done on purpose not to have him in the movie, but still it was disappointing.
As much as I found wrong with the movie, there was a lot I liked about the movie. The main thing being how phenomenal the cast was. Each and every one of the adult actors looked like their younger versions of the characters, it was honestly incredible. The standouts were Bill Hader and Jessica Chastain, playing Richie Tozier and Beverly Marsh respectively. Hader, who is one of my favorite actors anyway, was incredible as Richie. He knew when to be funny, which was often, but he surprised me how well he could handle emotional scenes. I don’t think he will receive any nominations for this movie, but I think he will in the future. Chastain, another one of my favorites, continues to make any character she plays terrific. Beverly Marsh is a pretty complex character with a rough backstory and Chastain played her wonderfully.
Although it could definitely have been better than it was, I still really enjoyed IT Chapter 2. I still can’t get over the casting for each character, they were amazing, all of them. Along with the cast, it did have some great scares and some really nice cameos in the movie, which makes it more than worth your time to see it.
