Does ‘Chapter Two’ Satisfy ‘IT’s’ Fans?
*ALERT: SPOILERS AHEAD*
Photo by Emily Cozza
The must anticipated sequel hit theaters this week to excited horror fans.
The sequel to the successful reboot of the 1990 cult classic horror film of the same name, It: Chapter Two takes place 27 years after the events of It (2017), where we see the Losers Club, all grown up, and reunited once again in Derry as Pennywise comes back to terrorize the town.
It: Chapter Two has one giant flaw, that being the run time of the film. The movie clocks in at over 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is surprising because the movie felt way longer than that.
At many points during the movie I caught myself checking what time it was and saying “It’s only been 5 minutes since I last checked the time?”. The movie’s pacing makes this less than 3 hour conclusion feel like a 6 hour experience, but not in a good way.
Other minor problems with the film were more nit-picking details, such as the films generally awkward editing when it came to starting and stopping scenes, inappropriately placed jokes, and an over-reliance on face-tracking while filming for cheap scares. Besides these, It Chapter Two definitely outweighed the bad with the good.
The casting for this movie was perfect. Everyone from Bill Hader to James McAvoy seemed like they were literally the children from the first movie, just aged 27 years over the 2 years between the 2 films.
But what really made this movie were the special effects. I did not doubt for a second during this film that Pennywise was actually just a movie character and everything happening was just rendered on a computer. Everything from Pennywise’s shape-shifting to even one specific scene where (SPOILER!) a decapitated head grows 8 legs and begins attacking the protagonists, showed the creativity and effort that this film put into its more elaborate scares; which they pulled off almost perfectly every time.
Overall, this film was a great experience to watch with friends while being terrified. But, make sure you’re ready for a long one as you will feel the entirety of It Chapter Two’s run time. In the end, I’d give It Chapter Two a 6 out of 10; and would recommend to any horror fans even if you haven’t seen It (2017).
Allyson Ferrari • Oct 2, 2019 at 12:00 pm
I disagree with the writer saying that the biggest flaw of the movie is the length of it. As someone who genuinely enjoys the “IT” movies, I actually appreciated the longer film. What I believe made the movie “drag on” was the fact it was not very scary (for me personally). I do agree that the casting was perfect, looks-wise and personality wise. Specifically James McAvoy and Jaeden Martell, who play Bill. I really enjoyed this film but I wish it was able to scare me.