Review: IT: CHAPTER 2 Is a Fun and Nightmarish Conclusion to Stephen King's Story

I’m sure you’ve noticed that the reviews for director Andy Muschietti’s It: Chapter 2 have been mixed. Some people are loving it while others are like, “What the hell was that!?” I personally loved the sequel! I thought it was a great and terrifying conclusion for the adaption of Stephen King’s classic story.

As I’ve talked to people about the film and I’ve been reading people’s reactions, I’ve noticed that most people who liked the movie read the book while the people who didn’t read the book didn’t seem to care for the film. This makes sense because the film introduces some some interesting and weird elements like the Ritual of Chud, which is what the Losers’ Club needs to perform in an effort to help destroy Pennywise The Clown. I won’t get into what that means, or how it plays out, but it’s an important part of the story.

Then, of course, there’s the ending of the story, which can really be weird if you haven’t read the book. I will say though, the way the ending was handled in this film was so much better than the original TV miniseries. It’s funny, too, because the movie pretty much sets the audience up for the ending.

In the story we see that Bill (James McAvoy) is an author and screenwriter and all through the film they make a point of joking about how he doesn’t know how to end a story… much like what a lot of people say about King and his stories. It’s a not a bad ending, though! Sure it’s really weird, and while I enjoyed how the story came to an end, I can totally see and understand why some people won’t like it.

It: Chapter 2 is set 27 years after the Losers’ Club thought they killed Pennywise The Clown when they were kids in the ‘80s. As they've grown up and moved away from Derry, they've forgotten about what happened. When Pennywise the Clown starts murdering, Mike Hanlon, who stayed behind in Derry to keep watch over the town, calls up his old friends and reminds them of the promise they made to come back and stop the monster if it ever came back.

When they come back, Mike fills them in on everything and as they start to remember more and more bad terrifying things start to happen to them, especially when they start preparing for the Ritual of Chud. That’s when Pennywise comes out in full force and we get flashbacks of them as kids and see things they experienced that weren’t explored in the first film.

I loved the adult cast for the film! James McAvoy as Bill, Jessica Chastain as Beverly, Bill Hader as Richie, Jay Ryan as Ben, James Ransone as Eddie, with Andy Bean as Stanley Uris, and Isaiah Mustafa as Mike were all fantastic in their roles.

As for the younger cast, one of the things that was hard for me was the de-aging that was done on them. Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, and Jack Dylan Grazer all grew up and they had to be digitally de-aged for the film, and there was some bad digital effects with that.

As for the scares, this sequel offers up plenty of them! I’d say it’s equally as terrifying as the first film, but because you’ve already seen the first film, you may be a little desensitized to the fear that Pennywise the Clown throws out at the Losers’ Club, but it’s still a lot of fun! I don’t want to ruin anything for you, so I won’t go into any details, but the movie doesn’t shy away from doing certain things.

If you liked the first film, of course you’re going to want to go out and see the sequel! I thought it was just as good as the first movie in regards to the story. But, I do know that some people aren’t going to like it, and that’s cool. But, hopefully, in the end, it offers audiences some good and scary entertainment!