Pennywise is Scarier the Second Time Around

By Ryan Grow | September 14, 2019

Pennywise the Clown is back and scarier than ever in It: Chapter 2, now playing in theaters. 

In the sleepy town of Derry, the evil clown Pennywise returns 27 years later to torment the grown-up members of the Losers’ Club, who have long since drifted apart from one another. Now, they must come together to defeat Pennywise once and for all.

Director Andy Muschietti returns to direct the highly anticipated sequel with a newly expanded cast and delivers a brilliantly scary sequel. The film is just as scary as the first one, mainly due to the amazing performance of Bill Skarsgard as the ever-creepy Pennywise the Clown. Plus, the film deals with its main characters as adults so they are able to up the scare-meter, which works to the film’s advantage. 

Set 27 years after the first film, the Loser’s Club members have moved on except for Mike (Isaiah Mustafa), who stayed in Derry, Maine, and summons the group back when Pennywise returns. None of them can recall what happened until the memories start to come back as they reunite in a Chinese restaurant.

Bill (James McAvoy) is a best-selling author; Ben (Jay Ryan) is an architect; and Richie (Bill Hader) is a stand-up comedian, which allows his comic relief make sense. All seem pretty happy except for Beverly (Jessica Chastain), who is miserable in an abusive marriage. Eddie (James Ransone) assets risks for a living and is married to a woman who strangely, and hilariously, looks like his mother. Even though none of them can remember the past, they are all still running from what happened. 

The adults of It: Chapter 2 are perfectly cast, and they have big shoes to fill after the phenomenal kids in the first film. Luckily, the whole new group works just as well as their younger selves. Speaking of, I miss those little punks. They do appear throughout the film via flashbacks, but it’s not the same as having kids coming into their own and defeating the bad guy. 

Chapter 2 tries to be a regular old horror flick and succeeds in doing so. Muschiettie has upped the creature quota quite a bit, so pretty much everyone gets a chance to battle some zombie-like creature. It plays on the more psychological aspect of the horror genre because returning to your hometown can be more terrifying than any CGI creature and the film succeeds by embracing that. 

Overall, It: Chapter 2 is a fun-house horror movie that has plenty of gimmicks and scares to keep things entertaining while maintaining the heart and soul of the first film. The sequel provides closure to this amazing story and, in a way, closure is what It is all about.

Critic Review: 5/5 stars

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