It: Chapter Two

El Duda

Pretty much agree with all that ^

The original 90's mini series is better, despite how dated it is.

Yakult

A film that can't decide whether it's a comedy or a horror. Got plenty of laughs. Which is great, if its a comedy!

Tony EH

Why do film makers insist on putting stupid laughs (or attempts at laughs that often fall flat on their face) in everything these days. Can a horror film not just be, oh I don't know, horrific?

Necro

Mr E wrote: »

It isn't perfect (they could have trimmed 45 minutes off it at least) but it held my interest.
The scares were good, the acting was very good.

I loved the score by Benjamin Wallfisch - it really stood out in certain scenes.

I really liked the epilogue too. It was touching (especially in

the washing scene

) and there was a touch of finality and closure about it. No stupid jumpscare or twist at the end.

I'm going to go against the grain and say that I really liked this.

Sorry.

You know after having about a week to reflect on the movie I'm inclined to agree with you tbh.

It is a bit overly long, but for the most part it does hit the spot in what I was largely expecting.

Aside from

Ben and Henry

I'm inclined to agree on the acting as well.

MOR316

homerun_homer wrote: »

I didn't love IT Chapter 1, the CG killed most of the tense leading up to a scare, and I felt it was never as creepy as the opening Georgie set-piece. Bill as Pennywise is quite good but I felt he was underused and then quickly replaced by an awful mouth of teeth, and running after kids ain't his fort I would rate the first 6/10.

Chapter 2 is god awful. There was much unintended laughter in my screening, the giant gollum lady with 2 extra mouths in her neck (WTF?), the leper attack and particularly when 'Just Call Me Angel' came on out of nowhere and with no context in that part.

The running time is excruciating, and so much could have been cut. We didn't need an average of 10 minutes per character having a flashback to a past attack (never alluded to or referenced in chapter 1) and then a current attack, Henry Bowers could have been left on cutting room floor until extended DVD, and the end battle was way too long. When did they have this underground shelter in the first movie as kids? I don't think any film or tv adaptation would make the Ritual of Chud work. The film kept making jokes about bad endings without trying to better itself properly.

Funnily enough, for all the rave reviews people gave Finn Wolfhard in the first film, I found him very annoying, but I liked Bill Hader's version of him. The gay subplot wasn't hinted at in the first film with the character, so the inclusion of it just felt tacked on. Pennywise is such an inept killer and the film misses having a significant kill among the gang to keep the tension. He had young Ben in a locker with him and still didn't kill him? That's just daft.

I'd love to see a serialized mini-series just take the idea of IT and not try to stick so close to the source material. Give the world some actual horror rules around IT's power and seeming omnipotence. In these films he's everywhere at once and yet not aware of certain goings on. Currently if I was given the choice of the old version of the adaptation or this one, I'll stick with the old one. It may be cheesy but Tim Curry kills in the roll.

I think the thing with Ben in the locker was part of Pennywise's "torment" of the losers club.

It's in the book apparently, he seems to love playing mind games with them.
Why this is, I don't know. Best to ask Stephen King.

I didn't mind the film. Enjoyable evening trip to the pictures. The opening scene was pretty brutal and tough to stomach

DrPhilG

MOR316 wrote: »

It's in the book apparently, he seems to love playing mind games with them.
Why this is, I don't know. Best to ask Stephen King.

IT claims that fear makes the victims taste better. He refers to it as "salting the meat".

Hence the preference for kids, easier to scare. But he tortures and terrifies them for a while first partly because he is sadistic and partly because he likes his meals scared shltless.

mikhail

DrPhilG wrote: »

IT claims that fear makes the victims taste better. He refers to it as "salting the meat".

Hence the preference for kids, easier to scare. But he tortures and terrifies them for a while first partly because he is sadistic and partly because he likes his meals scared shltless.

And yet we repeatedly see It lure kids in with a false sense of security. Maybe, and I'm reaching here, Stephen King was just on a vast quantity of cocaine and some of his writing is a little inconsistent.

Wanderer2010

I really enjoyed this film, even better than the over rated first film. Ok so its not perfect- the whole Henry Bowers thing could have just been dropped as it was silly to expect the audience to buy the fact that Pennywise could transform into a 30 foot snarling woodchopper, or change a derelict apartment building to make it look brand now, yet couldn't kill the characters himself and needed some loon in his 40s to help him. Also, not all of the clips of them as kids were needed and were just filler.

Apart from that it was a very entertaining and faithful adaptation with some great acting and very well done special effects, particularly the Paul Bunyan statue coming alive which scared the crap out of me! I don't understand people who whine about the characters all going off one by one to meet Pennywise. That's what happened in the book and its a film of the book, so of course they are going to include it! Its not War and Peace, its a horror book and the movie is going to copy it as much as possible. What would people prefer- just all the old gang talking for 2 hours in the hotel then a quick fight and its over?? It was essential for the older gang to meet up with Pennywise in modern day to get a feel of how scared they still are/were.

Not all of the characters meeting were entertaining- Bev and Richie were definitely the most unsettling. The Eddie encounter just got laughs from the audience. I admit the fight should have been trimmed down and the explanation of the Ritual of Judd was always going to translate awkwardly to mainstream audiences. But besides that, I really enjoyed it and Bill Hader stole the show with his one liners, the acting was quite well done and touching at the end too. I rate it 8 out of 10.

artvanderlay

Just saw it last night. Overall, I enjoyed it but it could have been a lot better. First hour or so flew by, and was the best part of it, but the tone got a bit uneven then: too much comedy and it did drag somewhat at the end. I also thought there was too much bad CGI, and that there weren't many memorable scares. The most unsettling part for me was

the homophobic attack at the beginning and the return of Pennywise at the river bank

; other than that, I can't recall being genuinely scared (I don't count cheap jump scares...quiet, quiet, AAAARGGHHHH! :rolleyes: Lazy directing). I also didn't find Pennywise in any way scary in either of the 2 movies, and to be honest I found the actor's performance embarrassing, and a really bad choice to go that way with the character. I didn't feel any dread at all when Pennywise showed up (Tim Curry was much more unsettling in the TV version). Large chunks of the movie reminded me of a kid's version of a Nightmare On Elm Street, but I remember watching the original of that, and saying "oh f*ck" any time Freddy showed up. Pennywise had none of that menace.

The ritual of Chud was such a load of bollocks too. It's a pity they didn't completely disregard this ending to the story, and try something new. They did make some significant changes from the original book (Bill's wife and Bev's abusive husband didn't show up in Derry in this version), so it's a shame they didn't completely do something different with a lacklustre ending

.

artvanderlay

artvanderlay wrote: »

Just saw it last night. Overall, I enjoyed it but it could have been a lot better. First hour or so flew by, and was the best part of it, but the tone got a bit uneven then: too much comedy and it did drag somewhat at the end. I also thought there was too much bad CGI, and that there weren't many memorable scares. The most unsettling part for me was

the homophobic attack at the beginning and the return of Pennywise at the river bank

; other than that, I can't recall being genuinely scared (I don't count cheap jump scares...quiet, quiet, AAAARGGHHHH! :rolleyes: Lazy directing). I also didn't find Pennywise in any way scary in either of the 2 movies, and to be honest I found the actor's performance embarrassing, and a really bad choice to go that way with the character. I didn't feel any dread at all when Pennywise showed up (Tim Curry was much more unsettling in the TV version). Large chunks of the movie reminded me of a kid's version of a Nightmare On Elm Street, but I remember watching the original of that, and saying "oh f*ck" any time Freddy showed up. Pennywise had none of that menace.

The ritual of Chud was such a load of bollocks too. It's a pity they didn't completely disregard this ending to the story, and try something new. They did make some significant changes from the original book (Bill's wife and Bev's abusive husband didn't show up in Derry in this version), so it's a shame they didn't completely do something different with a lacklustre ending

.

I agree with a lot of this. I found the first hour or so really enjoyable. Went pear shaped though after that.

artvanderlay

Ward J. Littell wrote: »

I agree with a lot of this. I found the first hour or so really enjoyable. Went pear shaped though after that.

I will also say that it was a fantastic looking movie; a lot of effort went into the sets, and the look and feel of the movie was superb. Shame about the CGI then. I liked all the cast too, especially Ritchie and Eddie (Ziggy Sobotka from The Wire!). I still only give it 3 out of 5 stars overall though, but that's pretty good by my standards

El Duda

artvanderlay wrote: »

I will also say that it was a fantastic looking movie; a lot of effort went into the sets,

Yet they forgot to employ extras.


What was with the hotel? No other guests. No staff etc... So weird.

Basq

Been a long time since I've been as disappointed in a sequel!

TomSweeney

Wow ... I just saw this and I was almost in tears at the end with

Stan's letter

- I did read some bad reviews so maybe that prepared me to expect a bad film, thankfully I was wrong , I should have known, it can ONLY be a good sign if a pile of thrash like the Irish Times gives it a bad review.

Now I should say that I am biased here as I love the book - it's probably my favourite novel of all time , I first read it when I was 15 and was my first adult novel.
Loved it for the character development - it's like you know all the kids personally , the structure, history of Derry etc - amazing story 10/10.

Some things bothered me about the first film - Mike for one was a weaker character, I don't know why they decided to have his parents dead in this when his father in particular was a huge influence in the book - also he was the historian not Ben.
They have mended that a good deal in chapter 2, Mike is more like he is in the book.

Anyway, these films aren't the book so I take them as they are.
Like the book the battle with It at the end was a little silly, but the last 5 minutes made up for it , again it was strange that

they didn't start to forget again, like they did in the book - I thought that added a sadness that was missing here ... and I really liked the Richie was gay and loved Eddie addition, so nice ... really made me feel warm

.

I mean, what other horror novel/film can be jump scary in parts and yet so warm and human and feel good in others!

Top film, really enjoyed it. 8/10

PostWoke

TomSweeney wrote: »

thankfully I was wrong , I should have known, it can ONLY be a good sign if a pile of thrash like the Irish Times gives it a bad review.

And most of the people in this thread... sounds like you needed to like it more than most because you feel a connection to the novel. Wish I could've gone in with that level of confirmation bias, was a waste of a tenner for me.

Jurgen The German

Went to see it last night and really enjoyed it. Aside from the last 15 minutes or so when I was getting a bit restless, the film zipped along and didnt feel near 3 hours long. The book is massive and its admirable they tried to include as much as they possibly could in it, particularly the losers going around Derry to remember. The Bowers inclusion felt a little shoehorned but other than that I've no real complaints. The humour I felt added to it. As kids they used to rag on each other witb the occasional tender moment, the use of humour as adults was for me, them remembering what it was like to be kids. Overall a solid 7/8 outta 10 for me.

Ally Dick

I went to see this last night, as it is due to leave the cinema soon. I enjoyed it overall. Only gripes for me were an overuse of Bill Hader's comedy. Put it this way, I am not a fan of Evil Dead when it went funny. I felt it was half an hour too long. Most of the denouement was unnecessary. Also i was surprised at how crappy some of the CGI looked...a bit like that puppet out of Tales From The Crypt. Also I still don"t see anyone other than Amy Adams playing an adult Bev. I didn't know your eyes changed colour as you got older. That was the same for the James McAvoy character. I'd give it 7/10. On a par with the first film

El Duda

Nothing but critisism... 7/10?!

Ally Dick

El Duda wrote: »

Nothing but critisism... 7/10?!

Yes. The criticism is the 3 points I've subtracted

El Duda

Fair enough. My Last Jedi review ended up the same tbf. Nothing but negatives...

7.5/10!

Dothebartman

Honestly one of the worst horror films I've ever seen in my life. A solid 1/10 for me.

I liked the way they took the piss out of the ending throughout the whole film but that was it really. Just the way they killed it with all his powers is just cringy when he had so many chances to kill them. All his powers as well and couldn't catch them when they were running away really?

Worst blockbuster film of the year for me.

yerwanthere123

Just finished this. I thought it started really well but tailed off after the 45 minute mark or so. There was too much time devoted to evoking the memories/hallucinations of each individual character, it just felt a but much. Obviously it was too long, and for them to

defeat Pennywise by basically being mean to him was silly

. Overall though I'd still give it 6.5/10.