It Chapter Two – Review

IT Chapter Two

Directed by: Andy Muschietti

Runtime: 169 minutes

I think the image of Pennywise the Dancing Clown luring a child into a storm drain gains its notoriety for its perfect distillation of what makes It such a compelling property. We all know we shouldn’t go near a deranged clown in a storm drain, but something about his presence is intoxicating. It’s hard to turn away, even as it becomes increasingly clear that he’s fiending to bite someone’s face off. If a horror film can master this kind of dynamic, it’s a winner in my books, and I think 2017’s It was mostly successful in this regard. But despite the faithfulness of the sequel film to the book, IT Chapter Two doesn’t seem to be entirely on the same page.

27 years after Pennywise’s defeat at the hand of a group of teenage misfits, the evil entity’s mysterious cycle of murder and misery has started again. The gang, now adults, must reunite in Derry for a last-ditch attempt to understand and overcome the threat that plagues the town. The characters split up (always a great idea) to collect “tokens” from moments forgotten—and conveniently left out by omission in the original film. Some of these memories make for powerful and affecting scenes, but others are rather… token, as advertised. Still, the story more or less pulls itself together.

The film is light on scares. This is not to say that it is a bad film, but it is arguably not a horror. It does have plenty of suspenseful moments, and the tension does at times reach a fever pitch that had me eyeing the theatre’s exits—I’m thinking specifically here of scenes involving an elderly woman opposite Jessica Chastain. But these moments of tension deflate more often than they pop.

Though it’s a tired point by now, it is an issue of CGI. Predictably, in the scene mentioned above, the elderly woman transforms into a CGI abomination that chases Chastain for a few mildly heart-pounding moments and that’s that. Though there is ample talent and creativity involved in bringing the film’s most stunning visions to life, the simple fact is that CGI is not suited to conveying presences in an effective manner. It creates a conflicting sort of emotional distance where sparks of humanity shine through (which works wonders for characters like Thanos or Gollum). But when life and death are at stake in the moving picture, it is hard to top the terrifying presence of a human, be they lurking around a dark corner or dancing eerily across a doorway. The film’s scariest encounters are its human ones, and these are too few.

Speaking of presences, however, the casting and performance undoubtedly elevate the film. Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader are dream casting incarnate (both were their teenage counterparts’ picks to take on their roles). Hader in particular bounces off Finn Wolfhard’s performance of Richie wonderfully, guiding the character into adulthood with his savagery gloriously intact. Though James McAvoy looks perhaps the furthest from his child counterpart, his acting ability is clearly what earned him a look for the role of Bill, and he provides a compelling dramatic centre for the film. James Ransone maybe sticks too closely to Jack Dylan Grazer’s mannerisms as the hypochondriac Eddie, but largely all of the torch-passing performances are believable and the adult characters stand admirably in their own right.

And yet, these characters are undermined by—wait, can you guess?—CGI again! The film is heavy with flashbacks to the teenage cast during the time of the original film, but—uh oh!—the actors are now two years older and puberty has reared its ugly head. Since evidently no material was shot for this during IT’s production, the film resorts to de-ageing its actors. De-ageing technology is always a fascinating spectacle, and the quality here is quite impressive, but it’s not perfect. The flashbacks become unsettling for all the wrong reasons. Not even Warner Bros. money can save us from plastic features and googly eyes.

IT: Chapter Two is a film that shoots for the stars in more ways than one. It is admirable, charged with creativity, but it undermines its strengths in its execution. It’s a testament to the quality of the original film that I was so compelled to return to Derry with its characters, and a testament to the performances that the cumulative five-hour runtime feels like time well spent. I just wish Chapter Two had done more to develop its moments of tension and its compelling presences; as it stands, the film is a solid fantasy adventure flick rather than the gripping horror it could have been.