It Chapter 2

Two years after the first film was released and set 27 years after it ended, It Chapter 2 tells the second half of Stephen King's large horror novel. After Pennywise returns from his decades long hibernation and begins another attack on the people of Derry, the Losers Club are brought back and reunited so that they can stop It. The one problem is that even though they defeated the supernatural monster before, once all but one moved out they ended up forgetting about their experience and Pennywise is dead set in going after them for escaping him. As before, Andy Muschietti comes back to direct and continues to add such a striking visual look with subtle cinematography, fantastic music, great use of practical and visual effects, good balance of horror and comedy, and use of jump scares that aren't over done or cheesy. While the main focus is on the adult versions of the Losers Club, there are brief flashbacks to when they were kids before and after they first defeated Pennywise. For the most part it's great seeing them again and their chemistry is still amazing, but tends to often take away focus from the adult versions. Despite the outcome for one of the adult versions at the beginning, the casting for the older Losers Club is spot on and have chemistry just as good as the child actors. With heavy hitters like Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, Bill Hader is surprisingly the stand out performance. Bill Skarsgard once again proves just how amazing of an actor he is with his portrayal of Pennywise, being both terrifying even when he's not even trying to be. However, he shows up a lot less compared to the first film as the film tends to focus too much on certain areas. They could have definitely cut some parts out, especially being nearly three hours long, such as the flashbacks and the Losers needing to go around Derry to find artifacts to sacrifice. Certain aspects could have been more focused and elaborated on such as Beverly's abusive husband, Henry Bowers going after the Losers for It, and Richie secretly being gay. So while It Chapter 2 isn't as strong as the first film, definitely lacking in certain areas, it's still a solid film with a powerful end to Pennywise that at first may seem silly but they figure out a way for it to make sense. Over all: 99%

2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Ready or Not

3. Toy Story 4

4. Shazam!

5. Spider-Man: Far From Home

6. Rocketman

7. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

8. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

9. It Chapter 2

10. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

11. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

12. Hobbs & Shaw

13. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

14. Us

15. Aladdin 2019

16. Pokemon Detective Pikachu

17. Captain Marvel

18. The Lion King 2019

19. Yesterday

20. Pet Sematary 2019

21. The Upside

22. Dark Phoenix

23. Cold Pursuit

24. Glass