IT Chapter Two is officially the most anticipated movie for the next few months, per a recent Fandango poll. Basically all the way until the next Star Wars installment.
But does It live up to the hype?
We combed through the reviews, from the 5-star to the lowly 1.5, to try to find common thread among all the critics.
Video: It Chapter Two Final Trailer
The closest we could find in the mixed reviews? The great adult cast and returning kids bring the heart — but the decision to split them up is a real wasted opportunity. And having to follow so many different stories makes the movie’s 2 hour 49 minute run time feel even scarier than it should…
But read all about It for yourself in our review roundup (below)!
Katie Walsh, Tribune Services: “There’s more deliciously creepy anticipation in “Chapter Two,” but once again, Muschietti buttresses up the spook factor with too many computer-generated monsters that inevitably become banal. Through it all, Hader cracks wise, Ransone worries, Chastain emotes, McAvoy broods and monsters jump, but we lose the most important thing of all: the Losers themselves. And no amount of giant spider-clown can make up for the emotional connection that keeps us tethered to this world.”
Jen Yamato, Los Angeles Times: “As its two hours, 49-minute run time marches on, “It Chapter Two” loses sight of the forest for the trees… A particularly unwieldy and overstuffed third act lacks the elegance and dexterity that Muschietti builds into his best individual sequences. As a result, several of the characters’ psychological journeys feel abbreviated into repetitive, bite-sized vignettes in the rush to get to the end.”
John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter: “Why isn’t It a prestige miniseries for some cable or streaming company? …the stories don’t get to resonate with each other in a meaningful or emotional way — as they might in a series of well-crafted hourlong episodes. A moviegoer who just sat for 169 minutes is loathe to say it, but there needs to be more of this It — just not in this form.”
A.O. Scott, The New York Times: “An 1,100-page novel like “It” can be a breathless page-turner. But this 2-hour-49-minute movie drags more than it jumps, wearing out its premise and possibly also your patience as it lumbers toward the final showdown.”
Kate Erbland, IndieWire: “Choosing to pull the characters apart is an instant misfire, both weighing down the snappy flow and keeping this wonderful ensemble from playing off each other… This contributes to the film’s off-kilter pacing, stretching out its three-hour running time with repetition and rehash.”
Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: “But really, the main problem with Chapter Two is that it goes on, and on, for so very long. If brevity is not necessarily the soul of a good scare, it would certainly serve a story that sends in the clowns, and then lets them just stay there — leering and lurking and chewing through scene after scene — until the there’s nothing left to do but laugh, or leave.”
Oh yeah, remember we mentioned that one really bad review we saw. We just had to share…
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: “It’s wretched, ugly, unseemly and serves no real purpose except to unleash torment on anyone that happens to catch a glimpse. Oh, you think I’m referring to Pennywise the Clown? The description also fits IT Chapter 2. Shudder.
Granted, most sequels are bloated money-grabs. But this one is a special kind of awful. Perhaps because it squanders all the shagginess from the 2017 original, which was a moody nostalgia piece with fleshed-out characters and unrelenting tension.”
Wow. Ouch.
You can decide for yourself when IT Chapter Two hits theaters on Friday, September 6!
[Image via Warner Bros/YouTube.]
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