Starring: James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgard
Director: Andy Muschietti
Release date: 6th September 2019
September ‘89 in Derry, Maine, and the Losers Club have all gone their separate ways after a big argument.. 27 years later and dark forces are stirring once again. Scattered across the country are the members of the Losers Club and one by one they each receive a phonecall from an old friend, Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa). None of them remember him but after a brief explanation, they are each told that they must return home to Derry and help defeat a dark and violent creature who has surfaced again. Mike explains that there is a 27 year ‘echo’ that has been repeating for thousands of years and it must be stopped once and for all. They must all return the next day. Back together for the first time in just over a quarter of a century, the Losers are gradually remembering eachother and what happened all those years previous. It’s not long before ‘It’ reappears to them once again and re-begins his murderous rampage.
Part two of the ‘It’ saga begins pretty much where the first film ended. It’s the late Summer of 1989 and the strongly bonded group of teenage friends, the Losers Club have gone their separate ways. This is the second/ third time that Stephen King’s novel, ‘It’ has been made for the screen. The first time was back in 1990 as a TV mini-series and it became a cult classic with the always brilliant Tim Curry in the role of Pennywise.
The original novel was first published in 1986 and written by the American horror writer, Stephen King. It was his 22nd book and would go on to receive numerous awards.
This movie has been long awaited since the 2017 first installment was released. Part one grossed an incredible $700million worldwide and also became to highest grossing horror film of all time.
Fans of the first film will definitely not be disappointed with this closing chapter to the epic story. Running at just shy of three hours, it’s a long old movie but to be honest, the story carries you along with it and you don’t really notice the passing of time. There’s a part where each of the Losers must head out on their own paths to retrieve ‘artefacts’ and this takes up a good bit of time but as a whole, the use of seeing the grown-ups plus their youngerselves in flash backs is pretty effective and really adds to the whole feel of the movie.
The casting has been pretty well done and you can see definite physical likenesses between the kids and their older selves. Bill Hader is a real standout in the cast, jumping between sarcasm and pure terror (in his first appearance he’s projectile vomiting) he is probably the favourite of the adult Losers. We’re so used to seeing him joking around and doing voices, that it’s really refreshing to see him in the relatively serious role of Richie.
As a huge fan of Stephen King’s books, it’s very easy to feel a slight wave of apprehension before watching a film version of any of them.. Will it live up to the book? Will it convey the same feelings and message? The CGI is a bit dodgy in places but don’t let that put you off.
This final chapter though has been worth the two year wait. Fans of Stephen King will enjoy this though it might not feel quite as gory as the first one. Be prepared for all kinds of emotions while watching this. Just make sure you have a wee before you watch it.. You’re not going to want to miss a single second.
Overall: 8/10
