It: Chapter Two

So I saw this movie last week, but I had to let it all sink in before I really knew how I felt about it.

I’ll start off by saying that if you aren’t a King fan—or haven’t actually read It—then this is probably not for you. And that should not imply that It: Chapter Two is a bad movie. Because it isn’t. But given the running time and all of the in-depth story properties it aims to accommodate, it would take the people who actually took the time to read the book to fully appreciate this second installment. King’s book (over 1,000 pages) could never have hoped to be adapted chapter by chapter, but I’ll tell you what—this movie does a pretty damn good job at trying.

So Derry, Maine it is. Another one of King’s fictitious New England towns where one day everything goes wrong out of nowhere. The film unfolds just like the book, with the brutal assault of two gay men 27 years after the events of the first movie. In a highly unsettling scene, they are accosted by a gang of homophobic boys before one of them is thrown over a bridge. The other goes into the Derry River to save his boyfriend, only to be made to watch him get mauled to death by Pennywise the clown.

Mike Hanlon, now grown up, is the only one of the original “Losers” who have stayed in Derry. And when he catches wind of the murder at the river, he realizes the pandora box that is Pennywise’s mischief has been unopened again. One by one, he calls all of his fellow Losers, who ironically enough have all gone on to become moderately to very successful. Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard in the first movie and now played by Bill Hader) is a popular standup comic. Ben Hanscom is no longer the short overweight boy from the first film, but an in-shape, attractive architect living in New York. Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy) is a Hollywood novelist/screenwriter who has kicked his bad stutter, but is married to a pain-in-the-ass actress who belittles him. But it’s Bev Marsh’s (Jessica Chastain) adult situation that is easily the most troublesome, as she is married to an abusive husband who she literally has to fight off in order to reunite with these old friends.

Stan Uris, the boy scout from the first film, makes a very final peace when he finds out Pennywise has made a resurgence. Already knowing he won’t have what it takes to confront him, Stan slits his wrists and leaves behind a letter for his friends.

The now-diminished Losers Club meets in Derry within a day of getting Mike’s calls in varying stages of belief and scrutiny. Some believe while some are too afraid to want to. But the messages and visions that are experienced on the night of their return provide undeniable proof that the situation is real and Pennywise must be destroyed.

Each Loser has its own run-in with Pennywise and is forced to exercise their individual demons when evading him. These interactions are hit or miss; some are poignant and scary, and some just aren’t quite as good. And even some of the scares revert to the jump reaction that I cannot stand.

The best one is probably when Bev goes back to her father’s old apartment and meets the “old lady,” only to get chased out and realize the building is long abandoned. Scary in the book. Scary in the miniseries. And scary now. Just an all-around unsettling mile marker on the long journey that is Stephen King’s It.

The sewer ending is usually very good, although the quality of scares is hit or miss. Pennywise grows into this arachnid type of thing at one point, and for someone who is terrified of spiders I was surprised to find this as one of the less effective bits.

Abysmal adaptations have been made from King’s stories and novels, and they overrun the good ones in their abundancy. With that said it would seem there’s been this King enlightenment in the last couple years. Fresh eyes on the writer’s material have been delivering a now-higher rate of good results, and I include both It films in that.

This is a solid B.