It Chapter Two

I wasn’t a big fan of It Chapter One. While the filmmakers did a good job casting the kids and Pennywise, and updating the setting to the 80s worked like a charm, it cut out nearly all the character development, history of Derry and cosmic horror that made the book more than just a scary story. I was hopeful that with a bigger budget, longer running time and perhaps more freedom from the studio, Chapter Two would focus less on jump scares and more on building up the characters and the mythology. That is not the case.

The opening scene is tough to watch but does stick very closely to the first present day scene of the book, with the homophobic attack on Adrian Mellon and his subsequent murder by Pennywise. The introduction to all the adult Losers is also fairly faithful, though Bev having an abusive husband is kind of pointless since he is never seen or mentioned again after his one scene. We also briefly meet Bill’s wife Audra who, you guessed it, is also never seen or heard from again after.

By the time the surviving Losers are reunited at the Chinese restaurant, the film has taken a long time to get very little done, not helped by flashbacks to the kid versions of the characters which just reminds the audience how much better chemistry they had. The Ritual of Chüd is clumsily introduced into the story as something Mike stole from a Native American tribe (though we do at least get to see Pennywise arriving on Earth millions of years ago in a meteor), and in this version the Losers have to go on scavenger hunt across town to retrieve personal artifacts in order for the ritual to work or something (I kinda tuned out here). Any scenes that build some genuine menace (such as Bev encountering Mrs. Kersh) are quickly undone by some ludicrous CG. Although the giant Paul Bunyan that attacks Richie is kind of cool. Part of the problem is also that Pennywise doesn’t harm any of the adult Losers even when he has the opportunity to, leading to scenes of him attacking random kids just to try and generate some tension.

The film returns to the book for Henry Bowers escaping from a mental institution but since he ends up not doing any serious harm to the Losers, they might as well have cut this. Once the Losers end up in the sewers again, we get a big build-up to the Ritual of Chüd before the filmmakers decide, nah, that was a waste of time and have the survivors kill the Amazing Spider-Clown by being mean to him and making him small.

Despite this ho-hum conclusion, the film does generate some emotion with Richie’s reaction to Edddie’s death (it’s hinted at, though never explicitly stated, that Richie had romantic feelings for his friend). Then the friends all go their separate ways (though they keep their memories, unlike in the book) and the film somehow tries to put a positive spin on Stan committing suicide, too.

Despite all this griping, there are some things to like about this film. Bill Hader is very good as the grown-up Richie, and Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise remains an impressive creation (though it’s still ludicrous that any kid would want to get within fifty feet of him). James Ransone is fun to watch as a grown-up Eddie, though I was confused why he acts like he is in Goodfellas much of the time. The few parts that do successfully capture the book work like gangbusters, and while long it doesn’t seem nearly three hours long. Ultimately, as fun an exercise as it is to split the book into past and present day scenes, the story doesn’t really work separated this way. You need the kid scenes and adult scenes together to get the full effect. Maybe a supercut following the book’s structure might make the adaptation work better, but for now this has to be seen as interesting but ultimately deeply flawed attempt.

Dora and some scary stories

As we head towards Halloween it’s a good time for horror movies, but the first movie I’m going to be reviewing is based on a cartoon for toddlers. And it’s actually pretty good.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold updates the show to live action and makes the title character a teenager, but still maintains the same sweet, precocious quality and celebration of Latinx culture. Isabela Moner gives a star-making turn as Dora, and the junior Indiana Jones quality to the story provides fun for both kids and adults, aided by director James Bobin keeping things moving briskly with just the right tone. More of this from kids’ movies, please.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is another throwback, this time to the urban legend stories collected in book form by Alvin Schwartz in the 1980s. The film wisely set the stories in the 1960s, allowing for some political commentary as well as preventing the sight of kids running from monsters while filming them on their smart phones. The film uses four stories from the books (Harold, The Big Toe, The Red Spot, The Dream, and Me Tie Dough-Ty Walker – the latter very loosely adapted as the Jangly Man) with a wrap around story involving kids reading the book and the stories coming to life. Think the Goosebumps movie but way creepier thanks to Guillermo del Toro’s involvement . The visuals pay homage to the original illustrations and there’s enough dark humour to keep things light enough for PG-13 (while still way too scary for young kids). This deserves to join the ranks of classic horror anthology movies like Creepshow and Trick ‘R Treat.

Finally, Ready or Not is the latest entry in the classic rich people are different subgenre of horror. This time the rich people in question have a quaint little tradition of playing a midnight game whenever someone new joins the family by marriage. The only catch is that if the new spouse randomly picks hide and seek from the list of games then the other family members must hunt them down and kill that unlucky person before dawn. So of course, Grace (Samara Weaving, giving it her all) pulls that card on her wedding night. The plot kicks in early and never stops moving, providing plenty of memorable death scenes and a few twists and turns. The supporting cast is fantastic, especially Andie MacDowell as Grace’s mother-in-law and Adam Brody as the brother-in-law who may or may not be sympathetic to Grace. Soon you’ll be rooting for Grace to go full Sarah Connor/Laurie Strode and get medieval on those rich arseholes. I won’t spoil the ending but let’s say while the full Satanic influence on the plot may be a little much for some viewers, it provides a gleefully bloody resolution.