Review of IT Chapter 2
midlandsmovies • September 12, 2019
Review of IT Chapter 2
It Chapter Two (2019) Dir. Andy Muschietti
The success of the first IT film came as a bit of an industry surprise with the best opening of a horror movie at the box office ever. The inevitable sequel was not just because of that – the book is “essentially” two parts anyways – so now we follow the Losers Club as adults as they return to Derry to fulfil their promise to each other to stop Pennywise the (killer) Clown if he ever returned.
Director Andy Muschietti builds upon the good work of his first film which, for me, is by far the best of the recent glut of mainstream Hollywood horror. But this time we have a selection of adults embodying grown-up versions of the child actors from the previous film.
Jessica Chastain/Sophia Lillis star as the old and young versions of Bev respectively, James McAvoy/Jaeden Martell are Bill, Bill Hader and Finn Wolfhard play Richie, Isaiah Mustafa and Chosen Jacobs are Mike, Jay Ryan and Jeremy Ray Taylor act as Ben, James Ransone and Jack Dylan Grazer are Eddie and finally Andy Bean and Wyatt Oleff play Stanley Uris.
As the gang reunite, the film sees their memory of past events slowly return and the success of the excellent young actors’ chemistry from the first film has led to the director inserting plenty of flashbacks to flesh out the story.
And of course, the fabulously malevolent Bill Skarsgård is Pennywise the Dancing Clown with his piercing eyes, child-like voice and drooling smile all coming back to scare the adults who are all dealing with their personal past demons too.
As well as the actors, the film is shot superbly and the glowing cinematography during the flashbacks harks back to the innocent past whilst the modern versions have a more contemporary look. And a smattering of humour, mainly built around the excellent Bill Hader helps keep the protagonists likeable.
However, despite some excellent work from the cast and filmmaker, there are some problems with that. The film is not really scary at all. A Thing-inspired spider-head and a tense meeting between an old lady and Jessica Chastain’s Bev are superb but an over-use of CGI and the humour is tonally a little off. There are also some “meta” moments with a film set location, a Stephen King cameo and constant references to McAvoy’s writer who is known for the bad endings of his published books. This makes the film feel more like the satirical Scream 2 and these self-references took me from the movie completely.
Also, we must talk about the runtime. At 169 minutes (!) it’s AT LEAST 30-minutes too long. The great drama played out by the gang works well but by the cataclysmic and over-the-top end confrontation, I was actually yearning for a conclusion. A Return of the Rings-style multi-ending added another 10 minutes on that and it soon became quite comically misjudged.
The cast (did I mention them at all?) really help the slightly ramshackle film from falling apart but with its aim to be “epic”, it falls flat at times despite the interesting dark themes of dealing with the past sitting nicely with some more positivity set within fun 80s retro references. In the end though, IT Chapter 2 is a more than solid 2 hour sequel with an added 50 unnecessary minutes that ideally could be wiped from your brain like a memory from Derry.
★★★½
Michael Sales
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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