It Chapter Two is a perfect horror package of stark horror moments, brilliant characters and actors, with strong direction by Andy Muschietti! He has directed the earlier It (2017) movie and Mama (2013) which starred Jessica Chastain. The film is of course a sequel to Muschetti’s first part, It. Both films are based on Stephen King’s novel which came out in 1986. There was later in 1990, a two-night mini-series co-written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. It was brilliant with the silliness and horror of Tim Curry as Pennywise. The movie was written by Gary Dauberman who wrote the first It film and also this year’s Annabelle Comes Home. The earlier film was pushing the adult scale in language, but very little in horror besides the opening.
This movie needs no knowledge of the previous film, mini-series, or book, in fact, this entry can be self-contained. It has a long running time, two hours and forty-nine minutes, but while I had a few yawns, I was riveted with more scares and story development. The narrative balances the original cast of young heroes in 1989; leader Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Martell), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), one of the best characters in the last movie, Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly calls him New Kid more in a reference to his like of New Kids on the Block, Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), his part was reduced in movie 1, jokester Ritchie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), and uptight Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff).
This movie needs no knowledge of the previous film, mini-series, or book, in fact, this entry can be self-contained. It has a long running time, two hours and forty-nine minutes, but while I had a few yawns, I was riveted with more scares and story development. The narrative balances the original cast of young heroes in 1989; leader Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Martell), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), one of the best characters in the last movie, Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly calls him New Kid more in a reference to his like of New Kids on the Block, Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), his part was reduced in movie 1, jokester Ritchie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), and uptight Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff).
It is 27 years later, 2016, in Derry, Maine where there is now a carnival. At a carnival game with the water guns filling clown mouths, a young man, Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan) wins the game. He gives the prize to the young girl whom he says helped him win the game. Very nice. Then, he kisses his boy friend, Don Hagarty (Taylor Frey) who gives him an `I Love Derry' hat. This upsets a young kid and his older, punk friends. The couple walks away, but the bullies catch up to them and beat up Adrian. He is thrown off of the bridge into a more horrible fate. This is in the form of the clown, Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgård. He give a maniac performance with strange eyes and drolling mouth.
The attack by Pennywise is seen by Don and endless red ballons stream from under the bridge. A very impressive image. What isn’t clear is the incident of bullying and homophobia, in the novel, the bullies are arrested, but here there is no resolution here, no reason why Pennywise chose Adrian as a victim. Called by the police report is the older, Mike Hanlon, now a librarian played by Isaiah Mustafa. He was starred in the Shadowhunters series and is known by his part in the Old Spice commercials. Mike has discovered a deflated red balloon in the bushes and a warning to the Losers Club. This shifts to the adult Bill Denbrough struggling to type his screenplay at his trailer. He is now played by James McAvoy who was in this year’s Dark Phoenix and Glass.
The attack by Pennywise is seen by Don and endless red ballons stream from under the bridge. A very impressive image. What isn’t clear is the incident of bullying and homophobia, in the novel, the bullies are arrested, but here there is no resolution here, no reason why Pennywise chose Adrian as a victim. Called by the police report is the older, Mike Hanlon, now a librarian played by Isaiah Mustafa. He was starred in the Shadowhunters series and is known by his part in the Old Spice commercials. Mike has discovered a deflated red balloon in the bushes and a warning to the Losers Club. This shifts to the adult Bill Denbrough struggling to type his screenplay at his trailer. He is now played by James McAvoy who was in this year’s Dark Phoenix and Glass.
Bill, like the other members of the Losers Club who have left the town, has no memory of what they faced there. Mike who stayed in Derry keeps his memories. Bill is called to set at Warner Bros. Studios (kinda showcasing the studio making the picture and I wonder about Warner Bros. Horror Made Here when it returns). His wife, Audra (Jess Weixler) is in a bloody dress and the director, Peter, a cameo, mentions he has to change the end of the script. Audra argues with Bill over the endings of his screenplays and novels. This is a running joke pointed at Stephen King. Audra had a stronger part in the novel and mini-series, but is only a cameo here.
Bill gets the call from Mike that starts to bring back his memories and the Losers Club’s promise to return. Next, we get the older Ritchie Tozier played by Bill Hader. He of course explores a comedic and dark side in his series Barry and voices The Wanderer in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. He is nauseous at Mike’s phone call and struggles to perform his stand up set in front of a large audience. Next, there is a meeting over architecture plans for a new building, on the conference call is Ben Hanscom now played by Jay Ryan. He played Vincent in the latest Beauty & the Beast series and in the drama show Mary Kills People. James Ransone plays the adult Eddie Kaspbrak driving while arguing with his wife on the phone. Ransone was in Sinister (2012) and Sinister 2 (2015). He gets the call from Mike and ends up in a car crash.
Bill gets the call from Mike that starts to bring back his memories and the Losers Club’s promise to return. Next, we get the older Ritchie Tozier played by Bill Hader. He of course explores a comedic and dark side in his series Barry and voices The Wanderer in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. He is nauseous at Mike’s phone call and struggles to perform his stand up set in front of a large audience. Next, there is a meeting over architecture plans for a new building, on the conference call is Ben Hanscom now played by Jay Ryan. He played Vincent in the latest Beauty & the Beast series and in the drama show Mary Kills People. James Ransone plays the adult Eddie Kaspbrak driving while arguing with his wife on the phone. Ransone was in Sinister (2012) and Sinister 2 (2015). He gets the call from Mike and ends up in a car crash.
Then, we get a look at the grown up Beverly played by Jessica Chastain, who was also in Dark Phoenix with McAvoy and starred in the bio film Woman Walks Ahead (2017). She gets the phone call from Mike and her jealous husband, Tom (Will Beinbrink) has overheard the call. He gets suspicious when Beverly says she wants to leave for Derry. It becomes violent and the conflict reflects on the cycle of abuse Beverly suffered from her father (Stephen Bogaert). Lastly, we get Stanley Uris (Andy Bean) who is busy completing a puzzle when the call comes in from Derry. All of the Losers Club are stricken by fear at the return of Pennywise, but Stan has always had a practical view of life and is troubled by IT’s existence.
What is impressive is that for the most part the adult cast resembles their younger counterparts. There is a flashback to the sewer drainage, bodies are floating with the burst of water from the success of the Losers Club against Pennywise in the last film. Bursting from the water is Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton). He returns to his home and the police arrest him for the murder of his father. We get the current Bowers in an asylum and he sees the red balloon before finding his knife in his room. He violently frees himself from the asylum and now tasked by Pennywise to hunt the Losers Club. His friend, Patrick Hosckstetter (Owen Teague) is now a corpse who drives him to find the Losers Club.
What is impressive is that for the most part the adult cast resembles their younger counterparts. There is a flashback to the sewer drainage, bodies are floating with the burst of water from the success of the Losers Club against Pennywise in the last film. Bursting from the water is Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton). He returns to his home and the police arrest him for the murder of his father. We get the current Bowers in an asylum and he sees the red balloon before finding his knife in his room. He violently frees himself from the asylum and now tasked by Pennywise to hunt the Losers Club. His friend, Patrick Hosckstetter (Owen Teague) is now a corpse who drives him to find the Losers Club.
Bill is the first of the Losers Club to meet with Mike at the Chinese restaurant. He is driven by the guilt he feels over the death of his brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott). Beverly and Ben meet outside of the restaurant, it appears like there is attraction there, but Beverly believes that Bill is the writer of the poem from when they were younger. We get to know the characters and group dynamic from their meal. This is of course disrupted by Pennywise. After the dinner, Beverly reveals that she had a vision of all of their deaths. The Losers Club is divided with most members wanting to leave Derry. Bill goes with Mike and he is shown a pyramid-like container which he had taken from Native Americans. A vision reveals that Pennywise is a creature that arrived in a meteor some time ago. The Native Americans stood against IT.
He hopes to have the Loser’s Club perform the Ritual of Chüd to destroy Pennywise. It sounds more H.P. Lovecraft than Native American. Mike takes the Losers Club when they all return spooked by Pennywise and they find the clubhouse built by Ben when they were kids. He tells them that they have to find artifacts from their past as part of the ritual. This was for the most part missing from the mini-series, but a strong part of the novel’s ending. There is no sling shot that is an important part of the book and mini-series. Hader’s Rithie, Beverly says “Beep beep Ritchie” once, he has an interesting development when he was a child, but this is never completed as an arc. The strange fact was that I read the Stephen King book some time ago, so memories of it were slowly returning like the Losers Club. I'm familiar with all of the versions of the story, I was still surprised and scared of Pennywise. It Chapter Two is the best version of King's story without the cosmic turtle!
He hopes to have the Loser’s Club perform the Ritual of Chüd to destroy Pennywise. It sounds more H.P. Lovecraft than Native American. Mike takes the Losers Club when they all return spooked by Pennywise and they find the clubhouse built by Ben when they were kids. He tells them that they have to find artifacts from their past as part of the ritual. This was for the most part missing from the mini-series, but a strong part of the novel’s ending. There is no sling shot that is an important part of the book and mini-series. Hader’s Rithie, Beverly says “Beep beep Ritchie” once, he has an interesting development when he was a child, but this is never completed as an arc. The strange fact was that I read the Stephen King book some time ago, so memories of it were slowly returning like the Losers Club. I'm familiar with all of the versions of the story, I was still surprised and scared of Pennywise. It Chapter Two is the best version of King's story without the cosmic turtle!
Four Red Balloons out of Five!
#ItChapterTwo, #AndyMuschietti, #StephenKing, #JamesMcAvoy, #JessicaChastain, #BillHader, #JayRyan, #JamesRansone, #AndyBean
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