Following the first IT, the second chapter of the story was released on September 5th, a two year wait. Although the new film still features the same characters, nicknamed the “losers,” the same kids who were loved in the first chapter are now grown up. Despite the age difference, the losers continue to battle Pennywise the clown. He has come back from his hiatus after his defeat by Bill and his friends, only now his horrors and thirst for blood are stronger.

One of the first accomplishments of the film lies within the cast and the acting. Each member of the cast made the audience feel sadness when they cried, and joyous when they laughed. Not only was the acting amazing on its own, when compared to the younger versions of the characters in the first movie, it matches up. The mannerisms and the way they spoke were really like the characters were played by the same people.

Additionally, the casting based on appearances was fantastic. Usually, the young and old versions of characters in movies only somewhat look alike. That was not the case for IT: Chapter Two. Every member of the adult losers had astonishingly similar facial features to the kid losers. In particular, Bill Hader, who played adult Richie, perfectly captured the snark and humor that Finn Wolfhard portrayed in the first film, along with the fact that the two could pass as father and son, based on looks.

In total, the film lasted only ten minutes shy of three hours. Because of the length, some scenes and concepts were drawn out. It wasn’t to the point of complete boredom, but it was long enough to make the scene tiring.

Although some events from the first film failed to be mentioned, there weren’t any deal-breaking gaps between Chapter One and Chapter Two. The movie connected many details from their childhoods into the character’s adult lives. The periodic flashbacks of when they were children, which weren’t shown in the prior film, added to the connections between the two, making the plot complete.

Those who read Stephen King’s novel, It, would be pleased at how closely the movie stuck to the book’s plot. While not every scene was portrayed in the movie, most of the meaningful scenes were included, or at least mentioned.

Similar to the first movie, the humor and horror were both excellent, striking a perfect balance between the two. A movie about a killer clown may not be what one would expect to cause laughter, but that was certainly what it did. Nonetheless, the gore and suspense combined with the visuals still lived up to the eerie expectations. There were numerous moments that caused chills. Although, the scariness is nothing to be compared to some horror films, like Insidious or The Conjuring. Despite the slight aspects of horror incorporated into the movie, there was not enough “scariness” in the film to be labeled as horror.

As for the ending, the plot was cleaned up enough to satisfy. The audience is allowed to glimpse into Pennywise’s origin and being as a whole, along with an explanation of Derry’s history of violence. While there could have been more detail, the ending tied the series up enough to be clear.

On the contrary, to fully comprehend the ending, audiences truly have to be paying attention in order to understand the “whys” and “hows”. The film is not a good choice for one who is looking for a mindless watch, only because of the immense amount of details packed into the three hours. There could have been more explanations, done in a less complicated way.

Overall, It: Chapter Two was a strong follow up to the first, meeting all of the expectations. Like all sequels, there were faults, but they were overshadowed by the brilliant acting and plot connections.