Stephen King adaptations, as we’ve nattered about before,
often oscillate between honored classics like Carrie, or barely watchable trash,
like the remake of Carrie. One that punched its way into the mainstream was
2017’s IT—a film that, looking back on it, I didn’t love, but enjoyed enough of
the performances and Bill Skarsgard’s portrayal of the titular clown-morphing
monster to like. Two years later and we finally get the sequel, which promises
to be more interesting the middling Pet Semetary re-adaptation from not too
long ago. Does this one top its predecessor, or are you better off sticking
with the Killer Klowns from Outer Space?
The film starts out fairly nicely with a pretty damn
harrowing opening that sets the tone for Pennywise’s return in the modern era—and
also re-introducing the adult counterparts of the first film’s child cast. I
wasn’t sure the new actors would recapture that sense of likeability, but as
before, it’s the leads that prove the best draw of them. James McAvoy’s
American accent falters sometimes, but I genuinely felt the gut-punching
emotions his character feels on returning to the hometown that saw his brother
murdered. Bill Hader and Jessica Chastain also stand out, as Beverly and Richie—and
if nothing else, it certainly feels like they get the lion’s share of the best
scenes not involving something horrific dancing about on the screen.
Oh, and speaking of the horror. I felt in the previous film
that that aspect was a bit of a mixed bag, with some genuine creepiness offset
by jumpscares or CGI flurrying. Well…the movie goes far enough with the latter that
it barges all the way into outright glorious goofiness. If it’s not giving hilariously
on the nose references to the likes of John Carpenter’s The Thing, it’s got
Skarsgard hamming it up in ways that go far beyond the oft-memed puppet dance
in the first.
However, this brings us to the main issue I had with the
film—the length. Horror films don’t end to do well with such a runtime, since
nothing conditions you to something scary better than exposure and thus desensitization.
And here…well, the middle act is mostly about the re-united Losers gang
returning to their hometown and confronting various memories, essentially. That
theme of standing up to the pain of your past is definitely an interesting one
and something the film does an alright job of exploring…until Pennywise barges
in and spasms in front of the camera in some horrible form or another. After it
happens several times in a row, it stops being endearingly silly and starts to
get annoying, especially when I’d prefer the film just focus on what it was
doing okay at.
There's also a subplot that doesn't feel as impactful as it should, with the return of a now homicidal childhood bully. Sure, it was something in the book, but with the liberties already taken, it's one thing that should've either been tied in better or cut. I did like the actor trying his damndest to portray a gibbering clown-worshipping murderous loon the best he had in the screentime he got.
The climax is also something that feels dragged out, and it’s
time to touch on something to compare to the 1990 TV series that had Tim Curry
having the best time anyone can have in clown makeup. Suffice it to say the
film tries to compromise between sticking to one element from the book that
series made its best possible effort at, and also doing something that wouldn’t
baffle current audiences. The results are…let’s just say mixed.
But despite that, the film has its highlights. Speaking of
the book, there’s one scene closer to Pennywise’s portrayal in it as a being
capable of acting actually affable to lure in kids—and it is genuinely creepy
and unnerving, more so than any such highlight in the first film. There’s also another
sequence set to a drug trip that blends together some more abstract imagery—something
I always like, and one that gives us a pretty tantalizing and interesting look
at Pennywise’s past.
Above all, despite my complaints, it’s the cast above all
that makes the film somewhat watchable. The directors did their best to try and
give everyone a fair showing, which might explain the runtime, and while the
results are mixed, I certainly appreciate the effort involved. There’s relatable
enough emotional themes that do resonate despite various CGI apparitions
barging in to go OOGAH BOOGAH in front of the camera.
In general, IT: Chapter Two is somewhat too long and for the
most part has given up on anything resembling a genuine atmosphere of horror,
but you might find it funny enough to watch regardless. The film does oddly aim
to play on nostalgia for something with only one other instalment from two years
ago, but if you did get attached to those characters, you might just find
enough to chew on here. And hey, if you found this killer clown from outer space
scary, there’s enough mugging from him here that you’ll likely get over it before
the end credits.
Comments
Post a Comment