The 2017 remake of It winded up being a real surprise hit for many people, including myself. It actually winded up making my top 10 for 2017, and so it really blew away my expectations. However, one reason why I really liked the movie is because I thought the cast of child characters was really exceptional, and so when I heard that the sequel would be focusing on all of the characters as adults, I was curious as to whether the movie would have the same magic for me. I will say right off the bat that I still think the first movie is far superior, but It: Chapter 2 does manage to still be a really great follow-up, and conclusion, to the first movie.

If any of you have read the book or seen the original 1990 mini-series/movie, you’ll know that the story follows the characters both as children and adults. While the first movie followed a group of kids fighting a killer clown, the second movie flashes forward 27 years. These kids are now full-blown adults, and they have all gone their separate ways following their original run-in with Pennywise. However, one of the kids (Mike) stayed behind in Derry, and now 27 years later he witnesses a murder that he’s sure is from Pennywise again. Realizing that Pennywise can only be stopped if the group bands together again, Mike calls up all of his old friends and tells them that they need to come back to Derry to help stop the clown from murdering more kids. And so begins a second fight against Pennywise.

Honestly, I still really liked this movie. Like I said, I was worried about following the kids as adults now, but the adult cast is still really good. Bill Hader is the definite standout as grown-up Richie, but the rest of the cast is great too, including the likes of Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy. The actors all nailed their parts, making it really feel like it’s the same characters, but just as adults now. It’s interesting to see how they’ve evolved, but a big thing that’s fun about the movie is having to see them now confront their childhood fears again as adults. We get to spend time with each character so that they all feel fleshed out again, and the result is really satisfying.

My only true gripe with the movie is that I found it to be way too long. The movie is just shy of 3 hours at 170 minutes, and I just found this to be unnecessary. The movie is fortunate to be interesting enough that I still enjoyed myself through the entire runtime, but there were definitely sequences that I thought went on way too long, and I really ended up feeling it by the end of the movie. I think the movie could have been just as effective as part 1 if it was just a bit more compact. The climax/final battle alone is like 30-45 minutes long, and so I was just ready for it to be over at a certain point. It’s a shame, because this is the only thing that dragged the movie down for me. Like I said, it’s a good enough movie to the point where the long runtime didn’t make me hate it, it just could have been better if it was a tighter experience.

Other than that, I really loved this movie. It’s not quite the hit for me that part 1 was, but It: Chapter 2 is definitely a worthy follow-up that continues and closes out the story in a really satisfying way. If you liked the first movie, I do think that you should watch this one as well. Just brace yourself for a long movie, and you’ll be fine. If you can get past that, there’s still so much to enjoy here. The scares are still really fun, and the cast works surprisingly well as the adult counterparts of the beloved cast of kids from the first movie. It may not be quite on the same level as the first movie, but It: Chapter 2 is still really good.

4/5