By Brett Blake Far more than the first film, IT: CHAPTER TWO ultimately kind of makes the case that to adapt Stephen King’s epic horror novel faithfully requires a final film that is structurally imperfect. CHAPTER TWO is packed with great moments and individual scenes, but it’s also extremely disjointed, moves in fits-and-starts, and has an extended running time that is in no way justified by the actual requirements of the plot. Picking up 27 years after the events of the first IT (which will hereafter be referred to as CHAPTER ONE, even though that isn’t technically its actual title), CHAPTER TWO finds the titular entity emerging from dormancy in Derry, Maine, to prey upon the weak, which results in the now-adult Losers Club, who thought they had beaten It as kids, returning to town to finish what they started and vanquish It once and for all. To start with some positive elements, the conceit of the adult portion of the story -- that the characters literally have forgotten what happened to them when they were kids -- is a perfect metaphor for repressing trauma, and this element of the novel carries over into CHAPTER TWO in quite an effective way. We get the sense that, even though most of the grown-up Losers went on to be successful after leaving Derry (and blocking out the horrors experienced there), they are kind of broken people who have superficially gotten past those horrible events, but have not truly faced them and vanquished them. This time around, defeating It for good means facing and reckoning with their past, and not all of the adult Losers are emotionally equipped for that, which makes for some fine drama. Additionally, CHAPTER TWO is kind of shockingly big-hearted when it comes to these characters, even more than the previous movie, and the resolution of their story manages to pack a moving and affecting punch. Also, the cast members are universally very good. Returning as Pennywise, It’s preferred form, Bill Skarsgård again delivers a sinister and quirky performance, and though he’s more sparingly used this time out, he remains the most memorable component. Of the adult Losers, Bill Hader is the clear standout as Richie; as one would naturally expect, he gets some of the funniest lines, but what’s surprising is the level of emotion that is present underneath the humor. If there were any questions regarding Hader’s range, this performance should resoundingly answer them. Structurally, however, the screenplay has some serious difficulties. In comparison to CHAPTER ONE, which had a much cleaner and more straightforward throughline, CHAPTER TWO feels much more scattered and cluttered. The first hour or so is particularly tough, as we are bounced from character re-introduction to character re-introduction, which means it takes a LONG time for the actual narrative to begin to progress. The individual scenes are good, but there’s a disjointed vibe at play among them. Additionally, this movie -- unlike the first -- utilizes flashbacks of the Losers as kids interspersed with the “Present Day” adult Losers story, and while this could be an admirable attempt to bring some of the structure of King’s novel to the screen (the book notoriously unfolds in both time periods simultaneously, jumping back and forth), it comes across as too much of a stylistic break with the approach of CHAPTER ONE; it also serves to make the proceedings feel quite drawn out, and needlessly so, since the flashbacks don’t truly add anything of significant narrative importance and seem to have been included just to get the kids back into this movie. This stuff is almost entirely extraneous. And even with the blessing of a nearly 170-minute running time, the screenplay doesn’t service all of the characters in the most full way possible. Bill and Beverly, arguably the two most important (emotionally) of the Losers in CHAPTER ONE, here are somewhat underwritten, as is Ben, and given that the semi love triangle between these three characters (both as kids and adults) is one of the lynchpins of the novel’s character development, undercooking it in this movie is a bit of a disservice to the work done in CHAPTER ONE to really set it up in an organic and believable way. CHAPTER ONE felt like a movie that knew it had something to prove. CHAPTER TWO feels like a movie that is a bit impressed with itself. That is not necessarily an overtly bad thing, but it’s a noticeable shift that leaves one with the vague awareness that the film is intentionally being a little cute. While that can be fun, and does make for a tone that is definitely aiming to please the audience, the stakes feel a bit minimized as a result. But even so, this is a big and handsome production, boasting good work from all the performers, as well as a strong emotional core. Flawed though it is, horror fans and Stephen King fans should be happy that a film of this scale has made its way to theaters, and that it -- at least thematically and emotionally -- captures the essence of what King was trying to achieve with the novel.
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