I admit, I have never been able to finish the book IT. Whenever I get a little more than halfway through, I cannot help but set it down and re-evaluate my life’s choices. It’s not because I find the book bad. It simply scares me.
This should say a lot, for I have watched scary movies since I was little. Out of all the various horror movies I’ve watched, I can say with certainty that nothing has freaked me out more than Stephen King’s thousand-page book, IT.
Though I managed to surprise myself with the first movie, for not once did I feel like I should leave the theater. Perhaps it is because the first movie was busy trying to fill in as many inappropriate jokes, which, along with a funny looking clown, can make it hard to be terrified for the full two and a half hours.
Don’t get me wrong, though, the first still had quite a few scenes that freaked me out. However, the clown was not the scariest part of the sequel. For me, the very graphic hate crime it starts off with and Richie’s sexuality tormenting him the whole movie exhausted me to the point to where I could barely focus on the long, tiring plot that dragged out for almost three hours.
To be fair, the overall movie had more to offer aside from exhausting me with all the homophobia and terrible times the characters were having. Once the “Losers,” the name of the main characters friend group, finally get back together it is just as funny and ridiculous as those who have seen the first movie or read the book would imagine it.    There are no serious talks, to start with, instead you get to see all the characters interact as if they hadn’t moved on from the first movie and forgotten they had existed for 27 years.
Like in the first movie, there were plenty of dirty jokes and cute interactions between all the characters, which was the main reason I wanted to see the movie. All the “Losers” are pretty great characters that interact quite hilariously together, so who can resist wanting to see them all together, especially 27 years in the future?
Sadly, there weren’t as many drastic transitions from laughter to fear as with the first. Though I suppose that is to be expected, for the characters are older and trying to kill a terrifying clown who conveniently knows your deepest fears.
If there was anything they did better than the first movie it was to include more of Mike’s character. His character is important since he is the reason all the “Losers” get back together. The only issue is that you can’t help but feel bad that he is the only one who never moved on after the first movie.
Just like in the first movie, I feel bad for Beverly the entire time. She is still tormented by her past with her abusive father and in the very beginning you briefly see that life never got better. After she left her father, she ended up with an abusive husband. Every time I try to read one of King’s books or see a movie adaptation, I feel like the women always go through brutal experiences. Yes, it is supposed to be scary and brutal, but the vividness is often painful to watch.
The rest of the characters experienced their fair share of traumatizing experiences. Some of the events left me on the verge of tears. However, when you are thrown a happy yet horribly tragic ending you can’t help but be unsure of how to feel. Overall the casting, and therefore the acting, was great. The only difference between the younger and older versions of the characters was their aging. As for Pennywise, he still managed to eat children in the most horrible and ridiculous way possible. Though the movie may have left me feeling a bit uneasy, it is truly not that bad. If you want to laugh, cry, and/or get really freaked out then this really is the movie for you.