It Chapter 2 Lacks the Bite but Still Has the Heart

Look, when you’re adapting a book that’s over 1000 pages long and you only have two movies to do it, you’re gonna lose some stuff along the way. It Chapter Two, like Pennywise’s final, terrible form, is a huge, lumbering menace, clocking in at a whopping 2 hours and 49 minutes. And yet, despite its massive size, it still manages to feel rushed, like its missing a sizable chunk of footage. Perhaps it’s because it spends too much time with the wrong things, or perhaps it’s because even almost 3 hours isn’t long enough for the story being told. Either way, Chapter Two lacks the panache and paralyzing fear that made the first such a hit two years ago.

That’s not to say that the film is a total failure. The casting of the adult Losers is extraordinary and their performances are what help keep you invested. Jessica Chastain as Beverly, Bill Hader as Richie, and James Ransone as Eddie are fantastic, and a reminder of why we like and care about these characters to start with. The film also maintains the most important element - that bittersweet kind of nostalgia that the first hit so perfectly. It is essentially a story of childhood trauma, and how that trauma sticks with us and continues to morph us even into our adult lives. In that respect, Chapter Two is very much a success. 

It’s been 27 years since the Losers put an end to Pennywise’s (Bill Skarsgard) reign of terror in the small town of Derry, Maine. Everyone but Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) has moved away and moved on from that horrifying summer. Mike has been living in the town’s library, obsessing over Pennywise, where it came from and what it wants, and preparing for the day when it will inevitably return. A gruesome hate crime at the town fair marks the occasion, so Mike calls his old friends to come back home and honor the blood oath they made as children.

For a property who’s iconic imagery is its killer clown, there’s not really ]enough of Pennywise to be found in this sequel. Various CG monsters attack the grown-up Losers, and while yes, technically these things are Pennywise, the scares they elicit pale in comparison to the clown - especially because of Skarsgard’s extraordinary performance. Three things made the 2017 film such a powerhouse: The child cast, childhood nostalgia working overtime, and Skarsgard’s Pennywise. There are a couple of scenes where he gets to shine, such as when he lures a girl towards him under the bleachers at a sporting event, or Bill’s encounter with him in the hall of mirrors, but I felt that it needed just a little more. 

Chapter Two as a whole feels like it’s missing the genuine terror that the first film possessed. This could be because it’s missing a crucial element - the very real people in the Losers’ lives, such as Beverly’s dad in the first film, who are often far scarier than any kind of immortal fear monster. Henry Bowers (Teach Grant) returns (despite clearly dying in the first film...) but his role winds up being over and done with by the halfway mark, and ultimately serves zero purpose. Bev’s abusive husband, who becomes a considerable antagonist in the novel, only appears at the very start of the film and is never seen again. Both characters are missed opportunities. 

This might seem overly critical, and it probably is. “The book is better” is an endless refrain that we’re tired of hearing, and as a huge fan of this particular book it’s obviously tough to be able to objectively judge any sort of adaptation. I want to point out that I still find Chapter Two to be a pretty good movie, even great at parts. The cast is excellent and the core themes of childhood friendship and trauma are still there and prominent. Bev is still trapped in a cycle of abuse that began with her father, Eddie ends up with a woman just as overbearing as his mother, and Bill is still haunted by his guilt over the death of his little brother. These things stick with us well into adulthood, no matter how far we run from them or try to forget, and Chapter Two does a great job driving this point home.

We all had friends that we forged unbreakable bonds with when we were kids. That feeling of childhood innocence, of shared experiences just as we were learning about the true darkness of the real world, is something that can’t exactly be explained, not exactly. As the adult Losers look at themselves in the window and their younger selves are reflected back at them, it’s hard not to get choked up. There are vital parts missing in Chapter Two that hold it back from true greatness, parts that feel like they would’ve worked better in place of what the film actually chooses to spend time on, but the heart and soul of the original novel is still alive and well. 

It is one of the best stories to come out the horror genre, ever, and these two recent adaptations do it enough justice to terrify and touch an entirely new generation. Say what you will, but the tale of a misfit group of unwanted kids doing battle against an immortal demon that takes the form of a creepy clown has a weirdly timeless quality to it. For that, I’m grateful to live in a world where it exists, in any shape or form.

3.5 / 5