IT: Chapter 2 (2019) Movie Review or Murder, She Wrote: Pennywise Edition

Hello guys and welcome back for another round of movie reviews with Movie Nerd, a place where you can be nerdy about movies and that's OK!

Pennywise is back and so are the losers, in this continuation of the box office hit from 2 years ago, IT, based on the novel with the same name from Stephen King and the TV miniseries from the 90's.

Before I dive into this review, a bit of a synopsis for those who haven't read the book or seen the 90's miniseries: twenty-seven years after the Losers Club defeated Pennywise, he has returned to terrorize the town of Derry once more. Now adults, the Losers have long since gone their separate ways. However, people are disappearing again, so Mike, the only one of the group to remain in their hometown, calls the others home. Damaged by the experiences of their past, they must each conquer their deepest fears to destroy Pennywise once and for all...putting them directly in the path of the shape-shifting clown that has become deadlier than ever.

So, this sequel did what all of the sequels that came before it have done, which is to make it bigger and, in case of horror movies, scarier, more terrifying and bloodier. In terms of most of those things, this movie succeeds but it does not mean that it is scarier than the first. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty scary but in the normal amount of scary. One this is for sure, is that this sequel is much darker than the first chapter, in tone, atmosphere, colors and with a much creepier feeling, a feeling that is enhanced by the excellent cinematography, great camera work and visuals. Plus, it's much more violent, with a lot of bloody images and a juiced up Pennywise that is way more terrifying than before. Also, in the first one, they did not touch upon the clown aspect of Pennywise but, in this one, at least in some scenes, the clown part of Pennywise emerges from the deep.

Apart from all of that, let's talk a bit about the casting choices. The casting for this movie was nothing short of perfect because they cannot have found a group of other actors to play the adult versions of the losers than the ones that they ended up with. Apart from a few of one note performances, all the actors did an incredible job, alongside, of course, the younger actors. Also, the Academy should introduce a category of best role in a horror movie or at least recognize horror movie performances at the Oscars because, once again, Bill Skarsgard shines as the titular monster clown. The same can be said about Toni Collete's performance in Hereditary from last year.

The movie is very faithful to the book, with a few changes and a big one at the ending, which kinda contradicts all of what happened before that particular moment, giving the story a bit of a dent, which bothered me a bit. It is longer than the first one, clocking up at 2 hours and 45 minutes mark, which is a bit long, if I am honest and the reason for this longevity are the flashbacks with the younger losers, which I did not mind because it connected some dots and completed the story but I was a bit annoyed, in some occasions, with these flashbacks and I felt that a few could have been cut, at least a few of them.

Overall, the movie for me was satisfying enough, I liked it, I laughed because there are some humorous moments as well. I liked the creepy atmosphere, the darker tone, the visuals. The CGI was fine, even the de-aging effects were OK but, in some occasions, you can spot the CGI work. I enjoyed some key moments from the book that weren't in the 90's TV miniseries and, also, the message because it does have a message. In the first one it was all about the friendship and how important it is to stick together and have faith in one another. The second one has all of those themes as well but it has a newer one, than one being that in order to defeat a bully that is bothering you, you have to become, yourself, the bully in order the get the upper hand and defeat your opponent.

A satisfying second chapter and I would definitely want at least two more, to further explore IT's origins as well as it's history and the history of Derry as well. 8/10

OK guys, that is my review for this one. Next up, I hope, will be the review for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Until then, take care, stay movie nerdy and keep on reviewing!