The history of Stephen King movie adaptations has been patchy. For every Carrie, The Shining, or Delores Claibourne, there is a Christine, Lawnmower Man, and Maximum Overdrive. One of the best was part 1 of It in 2017. The sequel picks up 27 years later after the events of the first film. All of the self-styled Losers Club have left Derry except Mike (Isiah Mustafa) who realises that Pennywise has come back and convinces the old friends to return to defeat him once and for all.
The getting the gang back together scenes were fun, reminding me of The Magnificent Seven! The way that director Andy Muschietti weaves together the present day footage with flashbacks to the group as kids works surprisingly well, and both sets of actors have decent chemistry. The character of Pennywise when in ‘normal’ clown mode remains pretty scary. A child stealing predator has at least an amount of believability. However, the increasing use of CGI monsters as the film progresses lessens the scares. An everything including the kitchen sink approach dilutes the tension and makes the near three hour running time feel like a bit of a slog.
I assume it was the huge success of the first film that attracted an esteemed cast that includes James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader. Stephen King also makes a cameo appearance as does, more surprisingly and pleasingly, Peter Bogdanovich, but as with the original, it is Sophia Lillis who outshines them all as the young Beverley. Horror film aficionados will enjoy the references to other works but it does lack the charm of chapter 1.
Rating 6.5 out of 10