“It: Chapter Two” is the sequel-conclusion to 2017’s blockbuster, which went on to become the best-performing horror film of all time. So it comes with a hefty bit of expectation and pressure. And what it does is slightly overcompensate, with double the cast, a bigger budget, and a running time of almost three hours.
Set 27 years after the first chapter, “It: Chapter Two” sees the Losers Club all grown up and scattered across the country. Unfortunately, the one Loser who decided to remain in Derry, Mike, learns to his dismay that what they feared has come to pass: that Pennywise, the dreaded villainous cosmic horror entity they fought when they were kids, was not vanquished completely, and the cycle of murder is beginning again. Remembering the pact they made when they were kids about returning to finish the job if indeed Pennywise survived, he contacts the rest of the Losers and convinces them to come back home to Derry.
The casting of this movie is stellar. Of the grown-ups, James McAvoy plays Bill, Jessica Chastain is Bev, Bill Hader is Richie (a great choice suggested by Finn Wolfhard himself), James Ransone is Eddie, Jay Ryan is Ben, and Isaiah Mustafa is Mike. Mustafa has the most to reveal; his range is startling and it’s great to see him in a role so different from what most people know him as: a funny beefcake from Old Spice commercials. Ransone channels Eddie’s neuroticism nicely, Hader continues to show his abilities post-“Saturday Night Live,” Ryan brings the same sweetness to Ben, and of course McAvoy and Chastain bring the skills that have made them stars.
The original actors also return in flashbacks. There’s a bit of retroactive continuity in that events from their childhood that the Losers “forgot about” mysteriously once they left Derry must be unearthed by visiting sites of significance and seeking out tokens for a ritual that must be performed in order to rid themselves of Pennywise.
While it can be a bit unwieldy, director Andy Muschietti is still able to present a bold take on what can be called a “mega-horror”: a big-budget madhouse of effects and techniques; a roaring, noisy ride that mixes body horror, Lovecraftian nonsense, and the occasional hyuks of an episode of “The Simpsons”’ annual Treehouse of Horror shows. A vision of Pennywise’s origin is a particular highlight, showing what you can do with a budget when you hand it to someone like Muschietti.
He and writer Gary Dauberman (who writes most of “The Conjuring” spin-offs) are also able to preserve that ’80s Amblin feel of Stephen King’s novel, and you’ll see why it’s such a source of influence on modern fare like “Stranger Things.”
While it doesn’t justify its length, “It: Chapter Two” has enough sequences that leave an impression, even if the scares and thrills never go beneath a superficial level (and some audiences are more than happy for that), and is likely to please fans of the first.