Friday, September 6, 2019

IT: Chapter Two

Okay, they did pretty good.


I still feel the best adaptation of IT was the first half of this story, the 90s mini-series is decent but the first chapter I guess we call it was the best. Now that's not to say this second chapter is bad, I really enjoyed the cast and did feel like those would be the grown ups of our young actors, they did good! I infinitely enjoyed and appreciated the way they handled the second half and more importantly the ending than the mini-series, but more on that later. So our story is much of the same, kids keep disappearing in the town hardly anyone leaves Derry which leads Mike to phone up the Loser's Club to come back and tie up some loose ends, as our cast reconnects and in a clever but underplayed way have to reach back into the past and uncover more than they remember. I absolutely love how they handled the flashbacks though brief they are, they show additional scenes with the young actors after important events have happened in the previous movie and thus you see more of their character and dilemmas as an audience along with the characters. Plus it all ties in the end, where our heroes face Pennywise more on almost metaphysical plane with some straight up Doctor Strange camera movements, editing, and action, it gets a little trippy but it's wonderfully put together! Obviously they have to attack Pennywise but I love the fact they have to gather actual physical pieces of their past in order to defeat him, I know everybody is going to throw McGuffin at this but I see a bit deeper into it. They reach back into their memories of the past, creating feelings of nostalgia but because the last movie was so much more the nostalgia dripped throwback film with references everywhere it's more underplayed and it's there for story purposes than, ooohhhh 80s stuff!!! That's something I appreciate. But something I appreciate more is Mr. Skarsgard himself, we see Pennywise a lot more in this movie, more scenes, more dialogue, a lot of him in broad daylight to show he's more confident than ever to claim victims, and of course he is a joy to watch. However! He was so damn enjoyable he kinda hurt the film for me, we all know he can shapeshift and change into various things, but I just didn't care that much for the various scary imagery in this movie. Do you know why? It's a super secret secret but I'll tell you anyway. Are you listening? Are you listening? Listen good. Because the majority of scares are godforsaken jumpscares!! Jesus fish, there is so many jumpscares that if I had a dollar for everyone I would have enough money to see every last new movie coming out this year. It gets old and it gets old quick. The only effective scares I got where with the flip flappin' dancing clown! Probably because Bill is an awesome actor and can make you feel uneasy and genuinely creeped out. I don't care about the stripping granny, I don't care about the leper, I do not care about the giant lumberjack statue. Send in the clowns! When I can make a joke about the reason this movie is 3 hours long is because you pad it with so many jumpscares, maybe you put too many in. It's the sad state of affairs for horror movies in this day and age, why do you think I praised It Follows so much? Because while the movie does have jumpscares it rarely used them, it didn't need to use them because the concept itself is actually scary and there was a constand mood of dread and helplessness. That just isn't here with the horror. And I regret to report that much like the first movie it has a hard time juggling comedy and horror, and it's actually funny! The writing is good! But right after suffering another jumpscare you throw a joke out there, it doesn't help relieve the burst of tension it just sort of falls flat. That was the one bad thing about the first movie, it couldn't juggle horror and comedy well together, now on seperate scenes with just the main characters the comedy shines, and when it's one on one with the kids the horror also works. It is so difficult to mix two such elements, many people can't get it so I won't ever hold it against the filmmaker. I genuinely liked the final confrontation, it was something different than the first movie and the finale of the mini-series, they really played their cards right and the conclusion actually made total sense. Yes even with the weird spider thing it worked like a charm! If you genuinely hated the finale of the original you have got to check out this movie, I really think you will appreciate and enjoy it. The movie was good do not get me wrong, I just had issues of my own but I know other people can look past it and enjoy this movie as much as the first. I mean for God's sake you kinda already have to see the damn movie if you sat through the first, so I know I'm preaching to the choir here but this is for mainly sharing opinions on the film than a question of rather you should see it or not. You shouldn't watch The Room or Troll 2 but sweet Christmas is it a blast to talk about with friends. So yes, you are no doubt going to see it if you haven't already but for those who might need some reassurance, definitely check it out. 3 stars, 7/10, thumbs up from me! But now the question is who will be the clown of the year? Well check back with me in about a month and we shall find out.

Next week....who knows? I'm still planning it. Bye!

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