But will the new Stephen King movie adaptation get it right?
“Can an entire city be haunted? Haunted as some houses are supposed to be haunted?” Mike Hanlon asks this question in the first interlude of Stephen King’s sprawling, complex novel “It”.
“It” is likely my favorite of King’s books, as unfocused and strange as it might be. I love the structure of the book, the way the narrative jumps timelines to tell the same story twenty-seven years apart, maintaining a steady grip on the characters before losing the plot in interdimensional mysticism.
The book is filled with themes about growing up and facing fear, about sacrifice and hope, about friendship and promises. But as much as the story focuses on the characters, the book is also about the rot beneath an entire town, about the ineffective systems that allow that rot to fester, and the people who turn a blind eye.
It’s easy to blame the misery of Derry on an otherworldly clown creature, but as Eddie Kaspbrak said: “adults are the real monsters.” These are the aspects of the book that I connected with most—that people are source of the violence and monsters can only exploit it. There have been two adaptations of “It” and neither have explored these ideas effectively.
It makes sense, I suppose. The easier thing to do is to focus on the surface level themes. It: Chapter Two is the conclusion of the story begun by director Andy Muschietti and it’s likely the best adaption fans are going to get. For that reason, it should be celebrated. The films are capably made and finely performed. What else is there, really?
Twenty-seven years after the events of It, the infamous town of Derry is celebrating its annual Canal Days festival. A young gay couple offends a group of local homophobes and a severe beating ensues. When Adrian Mellon is tossed over the side of a bridge into the canal, it marks the beginning of a new cycle of death, brought about by the re-emergence of Pennywise the Clown.
Mike Hanlon, an original member of the Losers Club, takes note. He has been tracking the history of Derry and watched for signs of the creature. He finds one on the underside of the bridge—a bloody message encouraging the others to “come home.” Hanlon begins making calls. The members of the club have long since left Derry and do not remember the events of the first film. They are all highly successful in their chosen careers; some are even world famous.
But as their phones ring and they learn of the new cycle, they suddenly remember their promise to Bill— “if it’s not dead you’ll all come back.” Come back they do, although they don’t really remember what they’re coming back for. It’s soon too late for them to change their minds.
The ideas presented in the film are as largely simple. Children fear the unknown and their imaginations are stoked by it. Adults hold onto to those fears into adulthood. To truly grow up, you must let those fears subside. This is as complex as the films get because it’s a deep as most audiences will allow. Both It films are made for a mass audience, hence the reliance on jump scares and noise to sell the fear.
The truth is “It” was never a truly scary book—it’s an entertaining adventure story of cosmic proportions. The films do the story as much justice as they can, although there are some baffling editing decisions and quite a few frustrating pacing issues.
These are more prevalent in It: Chapter Two, with its two-and-a-half-hour run time. There seven members of the Losers Club and each one has to have an individual scare session with the clown, which makes the film predictable and slow in some parts.
There are some changes from the books, changes present in both films, that are problematic. For instance, Mike Hanlon’s backstory was changed from being the son of a small farming family to the only survivor of a fire in a crack den, which is concerning as Mike is the only person of color in the film. I can’t come up with any good reason for this change.
Additionally, the Ritual of Chud, the ceremony necessary for defeating Pennywise, was given to Bill by Maturin, the World Turtle, in the books. In the film, Mike discovers the ritual by visiting a local Native American tribe. While I understand that cosmic turtles are hard to work into a Hollywood narrative, this smacks a little too much of the “magical Indian” stereotype.
Still, the performances are wonderful all around. If the film is too long (and it is), at least the audience gets to spend their time with a highly capable cast doing their best to be believable and earnest.
It: Chapter Two isn’t the best movie around, but it’s not the worst either. If you’re a fan of the book, you’ll likely find enough to love.