Sami de Jong

Spoiler alert: After watching the first IT film I knew they had to make a sequel, whether it be for the purpose of concluding a rich story or simply to make more money. The fact is that if you go into IT 2 expecting it to be terrifying or even just as scary as it’s predecessor you are likely to be disappointed. At this point the cycle of scares in this film have grown formulaic and so you can see almost every jump scare (which the movie does heavily rely on) from a mile away. On the bright side, my biggest complaint with chapter 1 (the acting on the part of the losers) is now far better due to the strong performances of the new leading cast that features James McAvoy, Bill Hader and Jessica Chastain. On top of that the dialogue is now much improved notably between Richie and Eddie, which leaves many memorable and funny moments that generally improve upon the movie on the whole. And of course, just like in the first film Bill Skarsgard is phenomenal as pennywise the clown delivering a chilling performance and an all round incredible villain. I personally found the story to be equally lackluster to the original and was unconvinced by many of the plot twists. The way Pennywise survived the first movie is hardly touched upon and his true form, the final showdown and the conclusion to the film was altogether extremely disappointing. In conclusion, It chapter 2 is a worthy sequel to its predecessor with great acting and many shocking moments, but due to it being formulaic and having a far weaker structure not to mention several plot holes it doesn’t quite reach the level of originality that chapter 1 achieved. For that I give it 6.9/10.