IT CHAPTER TWO MOVIE REVIEW - This is a two-part review, see
below for an earlier post. In 2017, I watched ‘It’ on opening weekend, and also
mentioned I’d previously seen the 1990 mini-series. The film is adapted from Stephen King’s book
of the same name. ‘The Loser’s Club’ are adults now, and everyone has moved
away from Derry, except Mike. He fears Pennywise has returned, 27 years later. People
in Derry start disappearing, so Mike calls club members, and asks them to meet
up with him. It’s at this point that plot problems with the movie begin to creep in. As adults, the ‘Losers’
don’t remember the clown battle which occurred in ‘It Chapter One’. This begs
the question: Why drop everything and immediately rush back to Derry? Since
only Mike knows Pennywise has returned. The ending isn’t great either. King acknowledges
this, and it becomes a running joke. King pokes fun at himself, when he’s featured
onscreen, in a cameo appearance. I don’t like ruining movies with spoilers, so
read on at your own peril. In the climatic ending, the ‘Losers’ (or at least
Mike) know Pennywise represents their greatest fears. The solution is as simple
as: “just don’t be afraid anymore”. If it’s that easy to defeat the monster,
why not do that a lot earlier? And finally: the opening. A homophobic hate
crime occurs, that does come right out of the book. I think that scene is a throwaway which has nothing to
do with the movie. I found the scene to be a random
afterthought, unnecessarily gratuitous and not connected to the plot in any
way. The production was better, and there was less CGI than part one, but overall
there are some pretty glaring missed opportunities.
