It: Chapter Two

In telling a dramatic story and portraying characters in a less coherent manner than in the first installment, It: Chapter Two is rather more B-movie improvisation (the weakest quarter of the film is made up of looking for personal artifacts). On the other hand, the plot is denser and contains more monsters, though they are absurdly incorporated or stolen from somewhere else (the spider head from The Thing finally got more space). Sometimes I enjoyed it, sometimes it was boring, and on the whole I kind of don’t care that I won’t be seeing the third part. (09/13/2019)

The reason that the book It was so exceptional was that it linked the past and the present and their simultaneous build-up, which is logically missing in the movies. A miniseries would be the right medium for an adaptation. But if I have to evaluate how the adult Losers did the second time around, it wasn’t so bad. That the cast is excellent is obvious from the outset in the restaurant scene, where everyone thinks back to their young selves. The problem begins with the approaching climax and the compromises in relation to the book (they make a mush out of it), but they make sense from a visual point of view. The change in the origin of the evil that the clown represents is probably the most painful. And the spider should look like a spider – it’s scarier that way. But the biggest problem is the length, because even though the movie is dreadfully long, a couple more minutes would have been fine… It should have been a miniseries. (09/10/2019)

If Stephen King's book is a culinary specialty, then It Chapter 2 is a patchwork stew made from the same ingredients. It doesn't taste particularly bad, but it's far from a tasty experience. While the first It movie was a solid start to a story about growing up with a reasonably decent level of scary horror, the second part is more like a horror comedy that is not even taken seriously by its creators, who feel the need to systematically disparage all of its more serious and scary moments with comedic interludes and other alienating means (film quotes, inappropriately chosen music). The schematic story suffers from a number of theatrical shortcomings, the horror scenes are often funny or even a parody, and the clown itself is more of a laugh than anything scary. It amounts to simple, average genre routine that recycles motifs of nostalgic childhood and friendly fellowship from its predecessor, replaces tension building with jump scares and digital spooks, and unfortunately, despite a few solid acting performances and a few remarkable scenes, fails to provide anything else worthy of praise. Again, the question arises as to whether it might instead be worthwhile to film It as a narrative series which, unlike a film, could be truly uncompromising, broader in terms of story and more inventive in working with tension and the psychology of fear. (09/05/2019)

Negative feedback after the premiere led me to the decision not to spoil the positive impression of the first part and instead avoid the sequel. I should have stuck with that choice because the result exceeded my worst expectations. It and Chapter 2 are like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is incomprehensible how the success of the first part caused Muschietti to lose all his sanity. The first film was not flawless by any means, but it was a dignified and sympathetic adaptation of brilliant source material. Chapter 2 looks and functions like an overpriced low-budget B-movie with an absurd runtime, cringe-worthy dialogues, terrible visual effects, glaring directorial clumsiness, and unremarkable acting, even considering the talented cast. (Jessica was indeed perfect for the role of Beverly, but her presence did not help the film.) The director lost control of the film, failing to capture even a hint of atmosphere and impressiveness. It's sad to say, but Stephen King is used to similar endings regarding his stories. Overall impression: 20%. (12/31/2021)

The problem with the second part of It lies in the fact that the director wants to make it in the same way as the first part. The adults, however, cannot work as well as kids in the similar world, because that world was created with kids in mind. The mysterious and fantasy atmosphere stems from the fact that we perceived the world exactly the same when we were kids. That’s why the first It and Stranger Things turned out so well and are so popular. In It: Chapter Two, there’s no reason to believe the craziness on the screen; it just seems like the screenwriter got high and wrote down anything that came to his mind. (12/06/2019)