It Chapter 2 review

I’d like to go on the record as saying it would have been hilarious to cast a CG de-aged Molly Ringwold as adult Beverley. Alas, not even Jupiter can find a lost opportunity.

A bit of de-aging that did happen was for the child actors from the first movie, who appeared throughout the film in flashbacks. As you may already know, kids grow like weeds and with 2 years between the films is way, way too much time for them to grow in real life when they shouldn’t be even a week older in the context of the movie. This was done so well that there’s nary an uncanny valley to be seen, and you wouldn’t even notice the difference unless you watched both parts back-to-back. This is far and away the best talent the move has to offer, though.

But while it’s a day for the kids, and 2 years for us, the plot has moved on 27 long years. And it’s time for the cycle to begin anew. And also somebody needs to tell Pennywise he’s doing prime numbers wrong.

And after 27 years, the kids have moved on, as most people in Maine do when they finish growing up. Mike stayed in Derry to wait for the sudden yet inevitable return of the Killer Clown From Outer Space, but everybody else moved to what appears to be New York City (in real life, this would have been Boston; in the book, they were all over the country) where they all have successful careers earning them six- or seven-figure salaries (in real life, this would be four- to five-figures) except for Bev, who’s just dating somebody who does. She’s a well-known fashion designer in the book, but that got left out for some reason despite explicitly introducing all the men’s careers.

There’s some great acting going on as the terror creeps into their minds, even though they don’t quite remember what it was. It’s even great when they completely remember Pennywise after returning to Derry. And their acting is also top-notch when they remember the good times and you can see their hearts warming. Even Bill Hader shows some massive dramatic chops by the end.

So, this all sounds pretty good right? Well, let me tell you what takes you right out of all the good parts of the movie, because the bad stuff won’t leave you alone. It’s one of those movies that is a never-ending display of special effects. And they’re awful.

The greatest difference between this movie and the first chapter isn’t the age of the protagonists, but the CG horror. The effects in the first movie weren’t always subdued, but they were very well-crafted. Whenever you saw Pennywise attacking the children, he was always out of place. Whether that was out of scale, out of sync, there was always something off (and by no means subtlety) about the “camerawork.” It was a great effect that helped amplify the tension.

While it still happens a bit in Chapter 2, most of the work consists of cartoonishly bad monsters. The effects and the scenewriting that required them both felt rushed; lacking a more creative and more effective way.

And that’s a shame, too, because a couple of the CG-heavy scenes came together very well, like one bit near the beginning of the movie in an Asian restaurant that is way, WAY too upscale to actually be even in the wealthy parts of Maine. The literal gay bashing, unfortunately, was not unrealistic.

Perhaps the special effects team would have had more time to refine the necessary scenes if the director hadn’t wanted an hour-long final boss fight (and man, you feel every minute of it. This movie should not have been 3 hours). Even before then, there are some entirely unnecessary extra work the CG team had to blow their time on, like altering Bangor’s Paul Bunyan statue to have a cant hook instead of an axe. It’s a deep cut (if you will) for lumberjacking, but that just makes it less likely anybody in the audience is going to care.

Verdict: Flat (2/5). Rent it and finish the story if you saw the first one. If you aren’t already invested, just don’t bother.