It: Chapter Two

It's ...

... back.

And now, for the other half of Andy Muschietti's film of Stephen King's IT. IT: Chapter Two is a good way to start the fall. It's not as great as Chapter One, but there's still plenty of fine stuff. Read on.

It's now 2016 in Derry, Maine. Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan) and his boyfriend, Don, are assaulted by vile punks. Adrian is tossed off the bridge into the raging river below. The newly re-awoken demon clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) fishes him out and makes him ITS first meal. IT beckons the now-adult Losers Club, the seven kids who ended ITS last reign of terror, to "come home."

Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa), the only one of the Losers Club still in Derry, calls up the other six. They promised as kids to finish IT off if IT ever came back. Only Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy), Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain), Richie Tozier (Bill Hader), Ben Hanscom (Jay Ryan) and Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone) respond. Stanley Uris (Andy Bean) kills himself.

Pennywise is ready and willing to taunt and terrorize them all. But Mike has a plan. An indigenous ritual called the Ritual of Chud may end IT once and for all. The Losers have to go around Derry to collect childhood tokens for the ritual. Sounds easy, right? But what if the Ritual doesn't work?

Chapter One co-writer Gary Dauberman writes this Chapter solo. It goes back and forth in time with the Losers, from their individual quests to "new" encounters with Pennywise. We get some interesting insight into the Losers' childhoods that not even Chapter One explained. But there are a few issues. One of the biggest is that a few details (like Ben's interest in architecture) should've been established in Chapter One. While there are a few creepy and shocking moments, plenty of Pennywise's tricks aren't creepy or shocking. The final, for real, confrontation with Pennywise is overlong, and consequently, not as cathartic, as Chapter One's final battle. Its huge length of 169 minutes speaks for itself.

It's astounding how the adult Losers Club look so much like the kids. Well, most of them, but Ben's considerable weight loss is acknowledged. And the digital de-aging effects used on the kids is practically invisible. The Losers Club, whether adult or kid, are a likable ensemble. Hader gets some of the best lines, but Dolan as Adrian Mellon gets the best lines as he taunts his assailants. Special mention goes to the actors playing Adrian's attackers for making them purely unlikable. Teach Grant as former bully Henry Bowers makes an impression with his relatively short screen-time. We also get a few amusing cameos from King himself as an antique dealer and Peter Bogdanavich as himself. And finally, Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise is still a reliably evil clown.

Now for the technicals. Benjamin Wallfisch returns to score the film, mixing new music with some of Chapter One's score. It knows how to set the many moods of the film. Editor Jason Ballantine and the sound designers deserve more balloons for its most shocking scenes; namely, the set ups for Pennywise's kills. Paul D. Austerberry's production design and Checco Varese's cinematography collaborate the best in visualizing Pennywise's creepy cave. The visual effects department get another balloon for its creepy creatures.

IT: Chapter Two completes this Stephen King adaptation. Its strongest moments aren't as memorable as Chapter One's, but they get the job done. It should make a fine double feature with its predecessor. Just don't set the bar too high. And don't let the runtime deter you. If you're lucky, you'll get a funny teaser for February's Birds of Prey. It needs to be seen to be believed.