Directed by Andy Muschietti

Screenplay by Gary Dauberman

Based on the book by Stephen King

Starring James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, Bill Skarsgard, Bill Hader

HOLY SHIT IT CHAPTER 2 DIDN’T SUCK!!!! I dreaded this movie because the first one was fucking pitiful. A disgraceful and miserable “horror” film that put me off even giving this one a chance. The first time around got everything about the clown wrong. Now, in Chapter 2, they got everything about him right. This is an awesome horror movie.

I suppose I have to clarify that regardless of whatever Pennywise represents, there was NO defense of his awful portrayal in the first movie. His voice, his movement, it was all wrong. Wrong for a movie, not scary once. Every single stupid shameful second he was onscreen I wanted to turn it off. It seems impossible to me that the same people made this sequel, because now Pennywise frightened the shit out of me. The scares worked, even the jump ones. And his voice and movement were perfectly framed this time around. This has got to be one of the better sequels ever made.

The story picks up 27 years after the end of the first part, the Losers’ Club is all grown up and living their own lives. Bill with the stutter is now a famous writer (James McAvoy), Ben from soc isn’t fat anymore (Jay Ryan), Beverly is married to an abusive man (Jessica Chastain), Eddie is still neurotic as ever (James Ransone), Ritchie’s a stand up comedian (Bill Hader), and Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) stayed as a detective in the town of Derry where the clown lies.

A hate crime, executed so effectively I thought I was in a different movie, sets off the reemergence of Pennywise. Slowly little kids start disappearing again. Mike knows what’s going on. He always knows what’s going on unfortunately. He phones up all the old gang one by one, hoping they will remember the pact they made as kids. The clown has returned, they have to rejoin to stop him.

This is all played out well. Each of them come back to Derry upon Mike’s request and meet for a surprisingly effective dinner scene. They have trouble remembering their childhoods. But as they spend more time in Derry, the memories resurface. Bill’s stutter comes back. Pennywise’s horror visions haunt them all again. They see and experience things that aren’t there. Treated as poor vignettes in the first film, they were too choppy and lazily shot that there was nothing there. Now, almost all of them are terrifying. The imagery rocks, as disturbing as you would hope a movie like this would have. So good they are that they earned that meta cameo in the bike shop.

The actors here are all mostly great, with McAvoy so infused in his role I bought him completely. Chastain is good as grown up Beverly, her and Jay Ryan share an incredible horror scene near the end. Hader was always funny, and really I don’t think they could have picked a better person for grown up Ritchie Tozier. Ransone’s Eddie got on my nerves at times, but overall he played his part. Mustafa, however, I was never fully convinced by. He was too confident in his acting, maybe that’s because his character has all the answers early on, which took away a bit of the fright.

And then there’s Bill Skarsgard. Who gave one of the worst performances in the prior movie. But now, gives one of the best. He controls his goofy voice now, and shapes it to levels of creepy I never saw in part 1. Just about all the side scares with our leads wandering off on their own to find their artifacts are great. In one moment my heart nearly ripped out from my chest because of how fucking scary it was. I loved the lighting, I loved how they took it up a notch this time and actually made things interesting. My eyes were constantly darting around the frame even in scenes I was sure there was nothing to be found. Now that’s a good atmosphere.

There is awkward horror humor throughout. At times repetitive, but several big moments I laughed out loud so hard I just might have to see it all again. Wait for that Pomerian, absolutely amazing.

It: Chapter 2 is far, FAR better that chapter 1. That is not up for debate. This movie is better looking, better sounding, not horribly edited, and will actually give you things to keep you up at night. The lovable homages to The Shining and The Thing are part of the ride. And one of the best hall of mirrors scenes I have ever seen in any movie ever.

This movie doesn’t always work, it is almost three hours long. And its repetitive nature of setups and near endings will exhaust some viewers. It exhausted me too, but in the right ways. I felt drained by the end, but because for most of it was I was on edge, because it was actually good this time around. And because I cared about them all, and I had no idea or clue about where it was going or how it was gonna end. Maybe some people will disappointed by that ending. I dunno, I liked it, even if it seems almost cheesy in hindsight. And the handling of a suicide that blew my mind. With incredibly well thought out transitions that were just great storytelling. And such effective shots, and little attentions to detail like what’s in Ben’s wallet. And man I loved the fortune cookies.

Don’t listen to anyone telling you this is a “weaker sequel”. They’re the same idiots who told you to waste your time with the first one. Chapter 1 thought showing you a clown was scary. Chapter 2 shows you why he is.