Review: "It: Chapter Two" is the Messy Conclusion You'd Expect from a Great Horror Epic

Scene from It: Chapter Two

In the weeks leading up to the much anticipated It: Chapter Two, the marketing received criticism for having a minimalist poster that some parents deemed too scary for kids. The concept seems odd, especially given that the predominant image is of two eyes staring from a largely white canvas. However, it speaks to the power that Stephen King's seminal work has had on pop culture. Before Andy Muschietti's two-part adaptation, Tim Curry traumatized generations as the definitive evil clown Pennywise for 27 years (and that was a sanitized TV version). Now Bill Skarsgard has taken over, and the mere presence of his eyes have the perfect impact over general audiences. You are supposed to be scared of Pennywise. This film is supposed to be the R-Rated nightmare of our times.

Considering that the 2017 film It kicked things off with an unexpected masterpiece of Amblin-meets-King horror, there was a belief that Muschietti would have what it takes to make the most faithful and scariest homage to King, possibly ever. After all, the proclaimed Master of Horror took two letters and made them terrifying. So, how does Chapter Two stack up to its controversial poster? At a running time of almost three hours (and a total of five when paired with the first film), the film is the epic that this gargantuan novel deserves, going for every self-indulgent tic that King put into the work. As a result, the film is an overbearing achievement, managing to often hit the horrifying peaks it strives for, though it's muddled by its source material. Whereas It could get away with streamlining the tale, every last messy chapter was saved for Chapter Two, and it shows. As a result, it's imperfect. However, it's also a powerful and rare look at a studio (in this case Warner Bros.) giving a filmmaker a chance to adapt King's work to its full potential, regardless of length. In the age where everybody is bought out by Disney, that makes It and Chapter Two all the more of a miracle.

The reason that King's seminal book "It" has continued to resonate is for a variety of reasons. On the surface, it was a requiem for every last impulse in his career up to that point. He was pigeonholed as the "Master of Horror," and it felt like every last trick of his had been used up. By trying to throw everything into one book, he sought to go beyond the chills and find something more empathetic in his characters. What he came up with was the most novel of concepts: Pennywise the dancing clown. Much like the central town of Derry, Maine, the appeal of Pennywise is twofold. On the surface, he's this happy clown meant to represent childhood and innocence. Underneath, he's a force of evil, luring the optimism in just to destroy it. Derry is no better, as the town is built on this dread as adults fail their children time and again, causing a trauma that lurks underneath their own masks. It was scary because there was no force coming into to save the poor, defenseless children. They had to band together to fight evil, thus leading to a group of misfits called The Losers Club.

The mythology is too great to get into, but what should be known is that Chapter Two finds The Losers Club grown up, 27 years later, and returning to face their trauma. Despite the passage of time, the pain returns instantaneously as they discover the small details that trigger memories. A dinner meeting goes wrong. A visit by an old sewer drain causes a mental breakdown. There's even a suicide. The pains of childhood have festered inside the characters and get explored in Muschietti's adaptation with such grandiosity that it becomes downright visceral. Each of the surviving characters (six total) get a moment to confront Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) alone, and they all follow a familiar trajectory. They are drawn back to a personal memory only to find it perverted by horrors. Each time Pennywise molds into something innocent only to pop out in a way that makes the chairs in the theater vibrate. The intensity is rich, the sights are grotesque, and it happens six times consecutively in the early second act.

The book has an added benefit of breaking its narrative into two-time periods, jumping around so that youth or adulthood never overbears. In this case, Chapter Two would seem redundant by including them in this version (a proposed six-hour version combining both movies is in the works), which means that these confrontations happen one after another for each character. Separated by time, they would seem less predictable and have more intent. In their current form, they reflect what hurts the film: the overbearing reliance on jump scares. Because audiences know to expect Pennywise, the third or fourth time it happens becomes tedious. Depending on how much you're going in for a great adaptation of the novel will determine how much you're willing to put up with. Considering that this isn't the end of Pennywise's peril, the violence will only grow as time goes on. 

On one hand, the lavish resources of violence are astounding and capture perfectly what makes Pennywise a force to be reckoned with. Where he was a figure lurking in the shadows last time, he's on full display here, unashamed to appear in broad daylight. While Skarsgard's performance makes him a Pennywise that may be legitimately scarier than Curry, the shape-shifting nature reflects a certain downside. As much as it's exciting to see Pennywise distort his face or jump through a plate of glass, there's still an excessive reliance on special effects that makes it seem goofy, especially in the aforementioned confrontation scenes. It is almost too much to see his skull take on many shapes, especially when accompanied by jump scares and Earth-shattering gargling sound effects. There is a charisma to the performance and the scares are sometimes downright horrifying, but Pennywise at times feels like another CGI creation instead of the living embodiment of evil. With that said, Muschietti's direction manages to help make the character staring at the camera feel more horrifying than any of these moments, especially as we know that the potential for another child murder is on the horizon.

What gives this adaptation of "It" a little more power and purpose is that in the five hours it has given us, there has been a lot of intimate time with The Losers Club. There is an understanding of what each character brings to the table. There's a dynamic to these outcasts that is heartwarming, hoping that they could overcome their struggles. Any crass joke feels like a defense mechanism over the fears that Derry has bestowed upon them. As the story winds down, it begins to feel more like friends confronting their demons together, capturing a deeper emotion that ranges from harrowing to heartbreaking. These characters just want to live normal lives, and the fact that the town is the largest haunted house on the planet makes things worse. They're constantly reminded of the dread they experienced, and every actor does an excellent job of bringing it to life.

It also helps that the casting director has an uncanny eye for talent. While the child actors are predominantly unknowns, the adults make up some of the most interesting Hollywood figures. There's Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader to name three. While it's enough that they have an uncanny resemblance to the child actors, their ability to mold adult insecurity on top of those performances creates a deeper understanding of the characters that work to its full advantage. Everyone has their own personal neuroses as they confront the past, and the panic attacks all come out in different ways. Even scenes where the younger actors are shot within the same frame reflect how talented the entire cast is, especially as they all are required to portray the same struggle in meaningful ways. For whatever faults the story can have, creating an epic this nuanced is a miracle, especially on a modern studio budget that probably doesn't care to make something like a Gone with the Wind or Doctor Zhivago-style book adaptation.

Chapter Two completes the biggest miracle that has happened in studio filmmaking in the past few years. Horror films by themselves haven't had the best track record of maintaining a large budget, let alone the confidence to adapt a book into a five-hour epic and have it be tentpole entertainment. That alone makes these two films special, even in the realm of classic King adaptations. For the first time, there's an R-Rated King film that isn't afraid to take chances, make bold choices, and create one of the most visceral and emotional experiences in the genre. Is it perfect? Not even close. However, in a time where studios prefer safe bets on stories that appeal to all four quadrants, Chapter Two feels special because it doesn't. As mentioned earlier, kids are afraid of the POSTER for the film. It's a film that's unashamed to be scary and take risks that make the horror more interesting, or at least fun. It's also the closest that a book of this size is to have a faithful execution, free of any limitations that the 1990s miniseries had. Maybe it will kick-off a series of ambitious King adaptations, or maybe it will make It and Chapter Two more outliers. Who knows. 

For what it's worth, Chapter Two is one of the most ambitious horror films of the decade. With some of the most overbearing jumpscares, it has the thankless task of wrapping up one of King's messiest novels in all of its forms. The film reflects this perfectly and immerses the audiences in quite a unique experience. Those wanting an adaptation of "It" that goes for broke, this is the closest we're likely to get until the six-hour cut becomes a reality. For now, this embodies everything that makes the author so iconic and his seminal novel so essential. This is a wild adaptation of a wild novel that never ceases to push boundaries. As a result, it can't quite achieve everything verbatim, but luckily what's here captures the heart and soul perfectly. Those looking for horror will find it tedious. Those looking for a deeper emotional resonance may have better luck (the ending feels reminiscent of Stand By Me). Still, few horror films manage to try to be this scary and heartfelt at the same time, making it a unique experience for those who can get on its wavelength. The journey of Muschietti's It is over for now, and with it goes a new template for horror. One can hope this is the start of a bolder, more ambitious time for the genre.