OPEN THREAD: What’d You Think Of IT CHAPTER TWO?
Well, it's finally here - Andy Muschietti's It Chapter Two,
We waited two full years for this, expectations were running high, and all signs point to Muschietti's sequel having a major weekend at the box office (right now they're calling it around $92M for the weekend, down from the original projection of $100M+). Chances are, if you're a BMD reader, you've either already seen it or have tickets to see it this weekend, and we're wondering what you thought of it.
For what it's worth, the BMD staff is heavily mixed on Chapter Two. Reactions range from "Disappointed" to "I liked it!", with all shades in between. Speaking only for myself, I found It Chapter Two's repetitive structure to be nigh unforgivable (the episodic quality of Chapter One never bothered me much, and felt graceful in comparison to Chapter Two's fetch quest-like structure). I also thought it was simply too damn long, an issue that probably wouldn't have felt so pronounced were it not for the film's structural problems. Another point of contention: the jokes, and particularly the jokes that were deployed during moments that should've been sold as scares. It brings me no joy to say any of this, but I gots to speak my truth.
That said, there were some high notes. The scene with Pennywise under the bleachers (a new addition to the story, unless my memory's failing me) was strong, and it was undeniably cool to see Muschietti's take on the infamous Giant Spider that factors into this property's third act. I was also a big fan of James Ransome's work here (for my money, he even stole the show from Bill Hader, which is no easy feat), as well as the Paul Bunyan sequence (however I'd been imagining that scene all these years, it wasn't nearly as freaky as the Paul Bunyan It Chapter Two delivered).
That's just me, though. Where do you folks land on this one? How does it stack up to It Chapter One? What was your favorite scare in the film? Your least favorite sequence? We wanna hear everything you have to say about this one, so let 'er rip in the comments below.
