Pennywise, the clown, returns for the much-anticipated three-hour-long sequel It: Chapter 2. The Losers return to Derry, Maine after 27 years to put an end to their childhood tormentor, Pennywise, a cannibalistic clown responsible for the death of hundreds of children. Throughout the film, they have to face past traumas, and the audience has the opportunity to divulge deeper into their adult psyche.

The casting was excellent in my opinion. The adult characters fit perfectly with their younger counterparts down to their looks and demeanor. The last time I watched It was in 2017, and I could still connect the characters between this movie and the last within the first few scenes. Even minor characters were very well developed, I cared for their well being even if I was first introduced to them 20 minutes ago. There were plenty of parts that made me want to cover my eyes out of sheer frustration, saying to myself, “please don’t let her die.” I was constantly invested in these characters’ lives.

However, some characters were so underused and flat that I feel they could’ve done without them and still have a great movie. For example, Henry Bowers, the bully with the mullet, returns but his character was underused and he almost seemed out of place. His only function was to act as a minor setback for the main characters.
Psychological factors played a big role in the film, and this definitely strengthened the story. You watched the Losers deal with their past traumas. Rather it be in a healthy or unhealthy way, it showed the diversity of their minds.

Book fanatics mustn’t worry because the film is almost perfectly true to the book. However, this weakened the scare factor in my opinion. At many times the monsters that were depicted in the book weren’t as scary on screen. I’m not a tech nerd, so I can’t really say anything regarding how great the CGI was. But for me, the monsters were responsible for how unfrightening it the movie was. It felt too fake to me to actually induce fear.

Because these monsters were so unscary, they almost felt comical at some points or left me bewildered whispering “what?” I caught myself laughing when I wasn’t supposed to be laughing because of how absurd some of the monsters were. The scariest parts were more disturbing and gory rather than some CGI Paul Bunyon (spoiler alert, sorry). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a scary movie. It’s a really scary movie to be more exact. However, it could be scarier if it wasn’t for those select issues.

Comedy really saved this film. I don’t remember laughing this much in any other horror movie. The characters, especially Richie, were rich in humor and constantly kept me laughing. Comic relief was expertly sprinkled throughout this film even in the most inappropriate of situations.

But enough of my rambling, It: Chapter 2 was a decent movie. It certainly wasn’t the best scary movie, and it certainly wasn’t as great as It. However, it provided some good scares, and it made me laugh a lot.