The nearly three-hour “IT Chapter Two”, directed by Andy Muschetti, is a follow-up to 2017’s IT and follows the characters of the first film as adults 27 years later
The movie follows Beverly (Jessica Chastain), Richie (Bill Hader), Bill (James McAvoy), and the rest of the Losers’ Club as they return to their hometown of Derry, Maine to confront Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård).
The biggest difference between the sequel and the first film is its heavier reliance on comic relief, which is especially evident through the casting of Bill Hader. To the movie’s credit, scenes with Bill Hader are filled with legitimate laughs, as he steals nearly every scene he is in, but it also undercuts the horror value  throughout the movie. Granted, Bill Skarsgård’s performance as Pennywise is impressively unsettling with simply his presence adding a sinister vibe.
The other weakness this sequel runs into is it’s 2 hour 49 minute runtime. Throughout the middle of the movie this runtime shows with scenes that are increasingly repetitive making the scares less effective. There are moments where viewers may wonder if some scenes could have been left on the cutting room floor.
One way “IT Chapter Two” improves upon the first movie, however, is the actors. Although the child actors in the first movie did an excellent job, the addition of more seasoned actors like Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy add depth to the characters and deliver believable and impressive performances. This can especially be seen in scenes where they are put in increasingly tense situations.
Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise also continues to be one of the most feared horror villains of the past decade. Pennywise’s physical appearance in this movie seems more sinister than the first, due to new risks the visual effects team and director Andy Muschetti took to up the ante for the sequel. Skarsgård has found a way to play Pennywise with such creepy convincingness that even just a smile is enough to establish fear in the audience.
IT Chapter Two is a little bit too long and tries to switch from horror to comedy more often than it should. However, amazing performances from all involved, most notably Chastain, Skarsgård, and Hader, along with a captivating plot that continues what worked in the first, make this sequel well worth a watch.