The novels of Stephen King have been transferred to film
perhaps more than any other author of all time. The fact that he writes nonstop
might have something to do with that. But even now a number of his books that
were turned into films are being remade before new ones are even filmed. A
remake of THE STAND is in the works. And last year we were presented with the
first of two parts of IT, a remake of the TV film. Now IT CHAPTER 2 is out on
disc, completing the story that began in the first film.
If you recall at the end of the first film the group of kids
known as the Losers faced off against Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) the clown,
defeating him at least for the moment. Pennywise is supposed to return every 27
years. At the end they all swore to return to combat Pennywise once again if he
did come back. That time is now.
The only member of the group to remain in Derry, Maine, was
Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) working in the library. When a group of teens beat up a
gay man and toss him in the river, his boyfriend watches as Pennywise eats him.
Mike overhears what’s taken place over the police scanner and knows what to do.
He begins calling the rest of the gang.
But for the rest of them life has moved on and the further
from Derry they moved the more their memories of what took place have left
them. Bill (James McAvoy) is married to an actress and now an author and
screenwriter in the middle of a film being made out of one of his books. Richie
(Bill Hader) is a professional stand-up comedian with anxiety issues. Ben (Jay
Ryan) has lost weight, become a great looking guy and is a successful
architect. Eddie (James Ransone) is an insurance salesman and married to a
woman who is reminiscent of his mother. Beverly (Jessica Chastain) is in an
abusive marriage and ready to leave for Derry. And Stanley (Andy Bean)
remembers more than the rest, so much so that he kills himself rather than face
Pennywise once more.
The group gathers together and meets in a Chinese restaurant
in Derry where Mike reminds them of their past and what they faced long ago. All
of them are ready to leave and abandon their promise when Pennywise makes his
presence known frightening all of them. Then Beverly reveals that when she was
exposed to It’s deadlights, she saw that if they didn’t fulfill their promise
she has seen their brutal deaths, beginning with Stanley’s.
The movie then moves back and forth from past to present as
each one of the members must find an artifact that connects to themselves
before they can face off against It. Mike has found a potential way to
eliminate It, discovering where it came from and how it was defeated millions
of years in the past. The artifacts each one finds shows them in their past and
how they acquired the item and then how they find it once again in the present.
This fills up quite a bit of the time of the film.
Of course a final battle is on the way and before they get
to it It will once more let them know he’s out there and preparing for them
himself. He wants revenge for what they did to him 27 years ago and he’ll use
anything in his power to have it. He’ll play on their insecurities and their
fears, he’ll manipulate situations involving innocents and he will find a way
to stop them in their plan. The only hope they have is if they can summon the courage
that they had all those years ago and face him once again.
Let me say from the start that the first problem this film
has was the success of the first film. While that film was just over 2 hours
the success gave the studio and director her enough confidence that they mad
this one even longer, running just 11 minutes shy of 3 hours. It doesn’t need
to be that long. The proof of that is that the film feels 3 hours long. It’s an
overindulgence that doesn’t destroy the story but does make it a movie you
might not want to revisit any time soon.
All of the actors involved are at their best here, making
the characters not just believable but mirror images of the child actors that
played the roles in the first film. That’s not an easy task to achieve and make
the character their own at the same time. And the kids from the first film
return here (or were more likely than not shot at the same time as the first
film) and remain perfect in their roles.
There are a few good scares in this film like there were in
the first but we’re beginning to see a time in films when there is a strong
dependence on CGI effects that result in their usage making the films not near
as frightening. The last sequence of the film involves much of this and for me
was one of the weakest moments when it should have been the highlight of the
film.
All in all the film isn’t bad and if you’ve seen the first
film you will definitely want to make sure and see this follow up. Perhaps the
biggest fear I have is that even though this concludes the story as told in the
novel the studio will look only at numbers and decided to make yet another
sequel with less money involved and no creative folks returning. Should that
happen it would be sad to see.
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