In doing so, at least, it traverses gutting emotional terrain, saved by an excellent cast led by McAvoy, versatile standout Hader, comedically gifted Ransone, and Jessica Chastain, who starred in Muschietti’s 2013 debut, “Mama.” Here she’s fierce and vulnerable in equal measure, whether confronting the memory of her abusive father or nearly drowning in a nightmarish bathroom stall filled to the ceiling with viscous blood. The 1950s small-town America of Stephen King’s youth provides a deceptively wholesome backdrop for the author’s nightmarish 1986 novel “It,” about a group of adolescent misfits in Derry, Maine, who band together to fight an evil, shape-shifting clown. Movies Review: ‘It’ delivers nightmarish visuals but misses the true horror of Stephen King’s classic As a result, several of the characters’ psychological journeys feel abbreviated into repetitive, bite-sized vignettes in the rush to get to the end. A particularly unwieldy and overstuffed third act lacks the elegance and dexterity that Muschietti builds into his best individual sequences.
His torments often lead nowhere, blunting the sense of menace that Skarsgård brings to the role of the sadistic, child-chomping monster clown.Īs its two hours, 49-minute run time marches on, “It Chapter Two” loses sight of the forest for the trees, even with Benjamin Wallfisch’s portentous score signaling the way. But save for a few clever moments that illustrate how Pennywise has sharpened his hunting skills during his 27-year hibernation, the rules of the world and of his powers go undefined. The film’s design tips its hat to inspiration ranging from 1987’s “The Lost Boys” to 18th century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi.Īround every corner are fantastical creepy-crawlies, giant statues come to life and gruesome jump-scares, even if too many of the hallucinatory thrills of “It Chapter Two” land more like toothless fascinations instead of bone-chilling scares.Ĭinematographer Checco Varese excels in lensing Pennywise’s nightmarish interludes with a gorgeous, surreal and inviting texture. Stunningly conceived subterranean depths provide expansive fantasyscapes as the Losers tangle with Pennywise across small town Derry, far beneath the sewers where he once lured little Georgie Denbrough with his toy boat, and into their own pasts. The charismatic younger “It” cast and their foul-mouthed “Stranger Things” vibe return via flashbacks, aided by de-aging VFX, as the film hopscotches between the present and the past. Muschietti nevertheless strains to weave the journeys of his seven characters across two time lines while cramming a convoluted surplus of plot into one saga-ending sequel.
PENNYWISE ACTOR CHAPTER 2 MOVIE
Richie Tozier (Bill Hader) has parlayed his defensive penchant for cracking jokes into a career in - what else? - stand-up comedy, a detail so perfect it single-handedly justifies the more contemporary shift in time from the 1950s- and ‘80s-set novel.īy selectively whittling down the novel’s interwoven time lines and characters, “It Chapter Two” refocuses its telling of King’s 1,100-plus-page bestseller into not just a scary clown movie - which it also is, thanks to Bill Skarsgård’s demented return as the trans-dimensional titular monster - but an elegy of memory, trauma and healing, minus the more extreme and controversial elements of the novel. Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain) is a designer whose outward appearance masks a viciously abusive marriage. Now 40-somethings still plagued by their lingering childhood demons, the once forever friends are strangers harboring deep emotional wounds that never healed.īill Denbrough (James McAvoy) kept the stutter, became a horror novelist and married Audra (a briefly seen Jess Weixler), the actress starring in his latest book-to-screen adaptation. But they drifted apart, their memories of their childhood boogeyman and of one another fading the farther away they moved from Derry. We learn that the tightknit bunch grew up fast after facing off against Pennywise that fateful summer. “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard talks about his role as Richie Tozier in the upcoming “It Chapter Two” and his supporting role in “The Goldfinch.” Movies After ‘It Chapter Two’ and ‘Stranger Things,’ Finn Wolfhard is an accidental horror star
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