Exceeding Expectations, “IT” Sequel Floats to Top of Box Office
The official theatrical poster for “IT Chapter Two” (Photo Credit: Collider)
By Michael Omoruan
After facing a notoriously fearsome clown, the Losers Club has come back 27 years later, following their oath to put an end to him someday. In “It Chapter Two,” released on Sept. 6, 2019, two years after the first film, Pennywise the Dancing Clown once again returns to Derry, Maine to feed on the inhabitants’ fear. Much of the film is really well made, blending humor and horror as skillfully as in the first film.
Almost too well, since according to Entertainment Weekly, playing Pennywise left Swedish actor, Bill Skarsgard with very strange Pennywise-filled dreams. “Every night, he came and visited,” said Skarsgard. Pennywise’s scares in the film are executed with an intensity that even shames the 1990 television movie. All the film’s special effects show advancement in technology and make you really empathize with the characters fighting the clown.
Now adults, the “Losers” Bill Denbrough, Ritchie Tozier, Ben Hanscom, Stanley Uris, Eddie Kapsbrak, Beverly Marsh, and Mike Hanlon reunite to face off against Pennywise once and for all.
Most of them seem to have moved on from their childhood days in Derry. Ritchie is now a headlining stand-up comedian, while Ben Hanscom leads an architectural firm. Only Mike played as a kid by Chosen Jacobs and as an adult by Isaiah Mustafa, has stayed behind.
The IMAX poster for “IT Chapter Two” (Photo Credit: Collider)
In the first film, Mike worked on his grandfather’s farm. As part of one of the only minorities living in Derry, he fell victim to racism and bullying by Henry Bowers and his cronies. Shortly after, he joined up with the Losers. In the sequel he now lives a reclusive life, listening to police scanners for reports of potential Pennywise attacks. When he overhears an incident involving the murder of two gay men, he calls each Loser to convince them to come back home.
Though most show apprehension or even forgetfulness of the pact they made almost three decades ago, eventually all but one agree to find time to head back to Maine. The scene of their reunion offers great levity, mainly through Ritchie’s sense of humor. Played as a kid by Finn Wolfhard and as an adult by Bill Hader, he begins cracking jokes at the Losers’ expense and gets the audience laughing along with him.
Many of the characters from the first film return, even if just for brief appearances. Beverly’s dad returns in a flashback scene where he continues to torment her for looking so much like her mother. Eddie’s mom makes a hilarious yet almost sad appearance as Eddie’s wife, implying she was the only woman he could ever get close to.
The skillful casting is another highlight, especially James Ransone, who plays older Eddie, and Jay Ryan as older Ben. They resemble their young counterparts so accurately they look as if they were relatives. Another old face to return as Henry Bowers. Since he killed his father on Pennywise’s orders in “Chapter One,” he has become the clown’s henchman, breaking out of an asylum to try to kill each Loser one by one.
Pennywise, for the most part, plays mind games on the losers that are downright cruel, including when he taunts Bill with the memory of losing Georgie. While Curry’s interpretation of Pennywise in the first version is more like an ailing father figure, in this second film, Skarsgard has a youthful demeanor that makes his luring and terrorizing of the kids a lot more believable and scarier. He also isn’t as hammy as the 90s Pennywise when delivering lines of dialogue.
The phenomenal acting, special effects and makeup were always of high quality, and the film’s music, composed by Benjamin Wallfisch, keeps you in a constant state of unease. Make sure to keep an eye out for cameos from director Andy Muschetti and “IT” writer, Stephen King. This film was made to be watched in theaters, so enjoy!
