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+ Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Horror Movie of the Year
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| Bill Skarsgård's iconic, snowy-white and blood-red makeup makes up this effective poster for Andy Muschietti's It Chapter Two |
27 years after the events of It (2017), the kids that made up the Losers' Club in small town Derry, Maine, are called back to live up to their old oath, as it turns out that the town's clownish evil has returned.
It Chapter Two is written by returning Gary Dauberman (The Nun (2018)), adapting Stephen King's (Christine (1983)) same-titled 1986 novel, and directed by returning, great Argentinian filmmaker Andy Muschietti (Mama (2013)).
Among the year's most anticipated titles due to the runaway success of the first film, a full-throttle, scary major horror film that audiences realized as rare and consequently flocked gleefully to, It Chapter Two has a lot to live up to. It doesn't disappoint, - although it doesn't reach the thrilling heights of its predecessor, either.
This is because a killer clown is fundamentally more scary in relation to children or juveniles, (as are other monsters), and here they are mostly attacking grownups. Also the effects and scare tactics just work best the first time around.
Then there's the film's super-length, which is certainly noteworthy, - when did you watch a nearly 3-hour horror movie last, right?
The film manages to stay lively through its grandiose running time impressively well, SPOILER although its underground lair culmination, which sees It turn into a giant spider-like monster, isn't really scary. Neither is the much-hyped scene that supposedly uses more movie blood than any other in film history (true or not), again probably because it victimizes the able actress whom the film has already repeatedly attacked for 2½ hours before this happens.
The cast is stellar and their likeness to their younger counterparts are flabbergasting, - and probably helped along with digital effects magic, (the young actors also reapppear in flashbacks, and new de-aging digital technology has been utilized to make them seem almost identical to their performances two years ago.) Bill Hader (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)) stands out: He is given the part of comedian Rich Tozier (comedian-turned-actor Hader slips ably into a different avenue here), and though the character is given too many lines that start with; 'What the f*ck', 'No f*cking way' and 'I am not f*cking ...', Hader and Finn Wolfhard (Dog Days (2018)) as young Richie also have strong scenes that imply Richie's secret adolescent crush on pal Eddie. Bill Skarsgård (Allegiant (2016)) returns as the creepy, child-eating clown Pennywise in the film's central part. The best alternate, memorable shapes of It in the new film include an attacking old lady and a chained-up, leprosy-infested goon.
It Chapter Two opens with intensely negative fury: SPOILER Master (gay) filmmaker Xavier Dolan (Mommy (2014)) begged for a part in the sequel and got one as a young gay male getting beaten up by homophobic youths and thrown in the Derry river, then eaten by Pennywise. Jessica Chastain (Stolen (2009)) portrays adult Beverly, and as the film opens we see that she has replaced her incestuous, violent father with a wife-beating husband. These tragic things happen in real life all the time and It insists upon this.
SPOILER But the film closes up with the antithesis, a wealth of positivity, which still ties naturally to the strong story, and the result is nothings short of moving: Not least Chastain's getting together with fellow 'loser' Ben (Jay Ryan (Lou (2010)). There's a nice irony in the fact that the losers' club outcasts of Derry have all, - save for Mike Hanlon, who stayed behind to watch and learn about what happened, and who is the one to call them all back, - have all become highly successful individuals, seen from the outside. SPOILER The film also has enjoyable surprise cameos from master filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show (1971)) and King himself.
Following It, the highest-grossing horror film of all time (maybe until now), It Chapter Two understandably throws in everything but the kitchen sink in its attempt to best the first effort and exceed it. It is a loud monster of a train coming through, based on King's terrific fantasy horror tale, a wild carnival of ghouls.
Related posts:
Andy Muschietti: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2019 in films - according to Film Excess
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
It (2017) - Muschietti succeeds with terrifying, thoroughly well-made King adaptation
Cost: Reportedly 60-70 mil. $
Box office: Not known yet
= Not known yet
[It Chapter Two premiered 26 August (Los Angeles, California) and runs 169 minutes. Shooting took place in Chicago, Illinois, British Columbia and in Ontario, including Toronto, from June - October 2018. The film has broken the advance ticket sale record for a horror film in North America, where it is expected to take in 90-100 mil. $ in its first weekend right now. SPOILER Muschietti has denied that Pennywise could return after the ending of the film, - but he has indicated that prequels could be made, as It in King's novel is said to have existed in Derry for a million years. Muschietti is rumored to return with The Flash and more sure to return with manga adaptation Attack on Titan. Skarsgård returns in The Devil All the Time (2020); Chastain in actioner Eve; James McAvoy (Glass (2019)) in His Dark Materials (2019, TV-series); and Hader with a voice performance in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019, TV-series) and theatrically in Disney Christmas comedy Noelle (2019). It Chapter Two is fresh at 71 % with a 6.38/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of It Chapter Two?
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