It: Chapter Two

Although better suited as a TV miniseries, this episodic sequel nevertheless delivers on savage, supernatural terror. Twenty-seven years after his last appearance in Derry, ME, creepy, shape-shifting clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) is back. The first body he devours is the victim of a vicious hate-crime on a gay couple at a local carnival. Although the surviving members of the Losers’ Club are still dealing with their childhood trauma, all have gone their separate ways. But when Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) summons the group back home, they reunite to fulfill the blood oath they made to exact revenge on demonic Pennywise. Now a semi-successful novelist, the sensitive, bespectacled Bill (James McAvoy) is haunted by the death of his little brother Georgie. Foul-mouthed, alcoholic Richie (Bill Hader) is a wise-cracking, standup comic. No-longer-fat Ben (Jay Ryan) has become an architect. Hypochondriac motor-mouth Eddie (James Ransone) is a risk analyst, nagged by his mother-replacement wife. Stanley (Andy Bean) is a wealthy accountant. And fashion designer Beverly (Jessica Chastain), whose father beat her, is now abused by her jealous spouse. When they meet at a Chinese restaurant, their repressed memories vividly flood back in flashbacks that almost immediately feel redundant. But Mike has come up with a plot to eliminate menacing Pennywise, which involves their assembling tokens/personal artifacts for a Native American ritual. Adapted from Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel, filmmaker Andy Muschietti’s ensemble piece mixes scares with the themes of dealing with arrested development and the aftereffects of a life-altering trauma. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Andy Muschietti, the two-part documentary “Chapter One: You’ll Float Too” (36 min.) and “Chapter Two: It Ends” (40 min.), and the production featurettes “Pennywise Lives Again” (10 min.), “This Meeting of the Losers’ Club Has Officially Begun” (8 min.), and “Finding the Deadlights” (6 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an effective sequel.] (S. Granger)