As we enter one of the 'dead seasons' of the calendar year, we have a raft of films to sift through. Sequels are aplenty in Hollywood and if we didn't have them, where would all the films be? We saw "It" back in 2017, and we saw that menacing clown and what it did to those kids in the town. Now that clown is back again in the sequel "It Chapter Two".
Twenty-seven years after the Losers Club defeated Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard), he has returned to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine once more. Now adults, the Losers, including Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy), Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain), Richie Tozier (Bill Hader), Ben Hanscom (Jay Ryan), Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone) and Stanley Uris (Andy Bean), have long since gone their separate ways. However, people are disappearing again, so Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa), the only one of the group to remain in their hometown, calls the others home. Damaged by the experiences of their past, they must each conquer their deepest fears to destroy Pennywise once and for all...putting them directly in the path of the shape-shifting clown that has become deadlier than ever.
Others to round out the cast are Jaeden Martell as Young Bill Denbrough, Wyatt Oleff as Young Stanley Uris, Jack Dylan Grazer as Young Eddie Kaspbrak, Finn Wolfhard as Young Richie Tozier, Sophia Lillis as Young Beverly Marsh, Chosen Jacobs as Young Mike Hanlon, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Young Ben Hanscom, Teach Grant as Henry Bowers and Nicholas Hamilton as Young Henry Bowers.
This film was eerily directed by Andy Mushietti ("Historias Breves 3" '99, "Mama" '08, "It" '17) plus shorts. Even though this filmmaker directed the predecessor, and one might believe he would have a 'leg up' on this being easy. This being set 27 years later, he had to work with a whole new cast in that they have grown up. Also, the fact that he doesn't have a ton of feature film experience tells me that this guy is a natural. Although this cast includes McAvoy, Chastain and Hader which are talented actors, it still takes fine directing to pull the emotions out of his actors enabling them to convey the rawness of character to the audience. He will undoubtedly receive more work. It was written by the horror king Gary Dauberman ("In the Spider's Web" (TV movie) '07, "Swamp Devil" '08, "Annabelle" '14, "Within" '16, "Wolves at the Door" '16, "Annabelle: Creation" '17, "It" '17, "The Nun" '18, "Annabelle Comes Home" '19) plus TV and a video, based on the novel "It" by Stephen King. This was a slickly written, well casted, well edited and photographed film with amazing visual and special makeup effects. With that said, it did have problems. First of all, it was simply too long--almost a three-hour running time? I know there was a fair deal of transitioning from their young past to their adulthood, but it could have been a bit shorter, Secondly, there were too many variables to grasp here--didn't Pennywise die in the first film? Also, it was never really explained why the 27-year gap was pivotal. So, even though Pennywise dies in this one--hey, this should not be a surprise, will he come back again 27 years later? Don't get me wrong, this was a nail-biter to pull you through that proverbial knothole, but why can't this clown die? For a 169 minute running time, the story did move fairly smoothly, and for that it does deserve praise. If you like his brand of writing, his "The Cabin House" is due out on Halloween next month and his "Are You Afraid of the Dark? is in pre-production at this time for a 2019 release.
Hey, with Pennywise able to cheat death, as long as this installment makes a ton of money like its predecessor, maybe we'll see the kids of these adults in this film another 27 years later in yet another sequel. You think?
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: R 169mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment