I was initially scared that It: Chapter Two would be reminiscent of why many horror films fell flat before the “Blumhouse Revolution”. The audience is placed into a grounded reality and lulled into a sense of genuineness (if you’re lucky enough that the acting isn’t a step below believable). But out of nowhere comes a fantasy element so outlandishly out of place that watchers aren’t in the mindset to accept them. For 20 or so minutes, It risks falling into a trap that will have you laughing at the dancing clown instead of dreading him.
It: Chapter Two takes place 27 years after the events of Chapter One, where most of the Losers have left their hometown of Derry, Maine behind. The farther away they go, through both time and space, the more they forget from their traumatic pasts, whether brought upon by a demonic clown or a demonic human. They are called back by Mike (Isaiah Mustafa), the only member who stayed behind and remembers everything, after Pennywise (Bill Skaarsgard) returns to re-terrorize the town.
The first 20 minutes of the movie introduce the audience to how each member of the club left their memories behind. Most have had some form of success, with Bill (James McAvoy) becoming an author/screenwriter, Ben (Jay Ryan) a successful architect, and Richie (Bill Hader) a famous stand-up comedian.
But even with lost memories, the club couldn’t escape patterns of the past. Beverly (Jessica Chastain), a fashion designer, and Eddie (James Ransone), a risk assessor, both married versions of their abusive parents. Stanley (Andy Bean) is a family man keeping secrets of his deepest fears which explode when his memories come back with Mike’s phone call.
The exposition heavy first act culminates in one of the most entertaining reunion scenes on screen in recent memory. It showcases the chemistry of the club, balancing Hader and Ransone’s humor, Chastain, Mustafa, and McAvoy’s vulnerability, and Ryan’s impeccable replication of Jeremy Ray Taylor’s wholesomeness as young Ben. It reminds the audience of the appeal of Chapter One, allowing the overwhelmingly bizarre end to the Chinese restaurant reunion to land firmly in its creepiness. From then on out, the remaining 2 hours and 20 minutes (each second you feel fully) is a natural mixture of entertaining humor, ever-building tension, and amazing performances.
Mike explains to the crew that each member must find a totem from their past to use in a ceremony that will not only banish Pennywise, but reveal his true form in order to really and truly kill him. One by one the movie to fill in gaps of the members’ past that we weren’t privy to in Chapter One. Flashing forward and backward in time, we get a deeper understanding of them as adults through episodes in their past that brought them face to face with the clown.
This back and forth between the older characters and their younger counterparts demonstrates how spot on the casting was in taking the young actors and finding pitch perfect matches to play older versions. McAvoy expands on the leadership and guilt that Jaeden Martell demonstrated as young Bill. Chastain explores the vulnerability that Sophia Lillis had bubbling on the surface in Chapter One, though there is a wasted opportunity as the script does not really get into the abusive marital relationship as much as the first movie did with the parental relationship. Mustafa really surprise in how well he captures the inner madness that comes with Chosen Jacob’s Mike having to stew in his memories for 27 years. Andy Bean resembles Wyatt Oleff’s Stanley as much as Jay Ryan may actually be an older version of Jeremy Ray Taylor.
But none of these couples stand out like Ransone and Hader as the older Jack Dylan Grazer and Finn Wolfhard. These two must be discussed together as there is an inescapable spark when these two are on screen. Grazer and Wolfhard’s back and forths were hilarious in the first film, but the older duo’s jibes were infectious. Each of them truly enveloped how we use humor to mask the most frightening emotions deep down, with Hader especially proving that his award-winning mixture of Dramady in Barry was not a fluke.
These new cast members brought life into the film, but it’s the seasoned vets that were the heart. Skaarsgard continues to prove he was born to play the gleefully eerie Pennywise, and Director Andy Muschietti knows exactly how to bring out the glee and eeriness of the film. Through dazzling special effects, sweeping shots, a unique use of de-aging technology, and a score that matches the movie’s oscillating emotions, Muschietti pieces together the puzzles of the younger and older losers to build momentum through a very satisfying and weighty end to a very weighty story. The film started at a 7.5, and though it could cut at least 20 minutes, pushed itself to and 8.5 through sheer will and length of the film. Though I was having Return of The King vibes by the end (END ALREADY!!!).