(WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR IT Chapter 2. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO SO BEFORE READING.)

A few weeks ago, I went to the theater to watch IT Chapter 2. As a fan of the first film and of the book it was adapted from, I was excited to see what the second film had in store. With a star-studded cast featuring actors such as James McAvoy (Split), Bill Hader (Trainwreck), and Jessica Chastain (Dark Phoenix), the film had built up plenty of hype. After the credits rolled and the audience clapped (for some reason), I was left with a feeling of disappointment. The plot of the movie was pretty good, but some scenes were just unnecessary, and the whole movie was lacking in the department it was supposed to excel in: horror.
The opening scene of the movie was adapted almost directly from the book. Two gay men are assaulted on a bridge, one of them is thrown off, and Pennywise kills him. The scene was extremely graphic and went on for about 4-5 minutes. This scene had no impact on the rest of the film. It served only as a catalyst for Mike to call the other Losers back to Derry. Any act of violence could have taken place to make Mike call the Losers, and this scene being included in the movie when many parts of the book are not included seems like a grasp for shock value. The most graphic scene in the whole movie was not caused by the title antagonist, but by regular people fueled by hate. This scene sat wrong with me since it was both unnecessary and deeply disturbing.
There were, of course, other flaws in the film. The form It takes when appearing to Beverly in the apartment she lived in with her father, for example, got more laughs than reactions of fear. The way that the Losers defeated It in the movie felt extremely cliché and boring compared to how they killed It in the novel (a great example of what should have been included in the movie versus what should not have been). They defeated this terrible threat, an extraterrestrial being that has killed numerous children and even one of the Losers, by calling it names. In the book, Bill fights his way into Pennywise’s body and destroys his heart. That would have been a much more satisfying death for It.
While the film did have its flaws, it also had its strengths. The casting for the movie was fantastic. The acting was great, and it was nice to see that the dynamic between the Losers did not change in their adulthood. The flashbacks the adult Losers have to scenes of their childhood that we didn’t get to see in the first film help piece together the deeper connections they have to each other, especially with Richie and Eddie.
Overall, I liked the movie. The acting was great, the ending (excluding the death of IT) was nice and brought closure to the franchise. There were a few flaws I couldn’t quite get over, and the movie wasn’t as scary as it was intended to be, but ultimately I felt that the film was worth seeing at the theater.