Given that it told only half of Stephen King’s novel, it seems logical that 2017’s It would spawn a sequel. The question remains what the producers would’ve done if the 2017 film flopped.

Happily for them, this didn’t become an issue. The 2017 movie became a massive hit, as it earned $700 million worldwide, and its low $35 million budget probably made it the year’s most profitable film.

This ensured we’d get another flick, so It Chapter Two hit screens almost exactly two years to the day after its predecessor. With a worldwide gross of $468 million, it didn’t approach the first movie’s success, but it still did pretty good business.

In the original story, we went to 1988 and met “The Losers Club”, a group of adolescent outcasts. In the small Maine town of Derry, they deal with tragedy and battle the sadistic, supernatural clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård).

Though the Losers vanquish Pennywise, they can’t totally defeat him and they anticipate he’ll return. The Losers make a pact to reunite if Pennywise ever menaces Derry again.

27 years later, this eventuality occurs, and Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) – the only Loser to stay in Derry – assembles the whole team. Well, almost the entire group, as Stanley Uris (Andy Bean) takes his own life rather than re-experience the terror.

None of the other Losers seem eager to battle Pennywise again either, and this causes complications. Nonetheless, the remaining five and Mike gather together in an attempt to finish off Pennywise once and for all.

I never read the novel, but the 2017 didn’t mark my first experience with It, as I watched the 1990 mini-series back in 2016. While not a bad production, it betrayed its TV roots and seemed mediocre at best.

With much more money at its disposal as well as the freedom of an “R” rating that this horror tale needs, the 2017 It boasted the potential to exploit the material well. Given those box office numbers I mentioned, clearly a lot of people liked it, but I thought it was a spotty flick that didn’t really satisfy me.

Between the 1990 mini-series and the 2017 film, I began to wonder if It just wasn’t for me. Chapter Two helped answer that question somewhat, and the answer came back… “maybe?”

I offer such a wishy-washy statement because I like Chapter Two much more than its immediate predecessor. While the first one had some good parts, it simply lacked many real scares and it failed to deliver an especially involving tale.

Chapter Two, on the other hand, brings a considerably more intense experience, probably because it doesn’t need to spend as much time on exposition and character development. The 2017 film needed to set up a lot of roles and situations across its 135 minutes, so those demands meant it didn’t get a ton of time for basic horror.

Because it takes place 27 years later, Chapter Two needs to spend some of its running time on character information, but because we already know all involved, it can simply give us updates. We get a sense of who the Losers are now and how they changed across the years, but the movie doesn’t have to get bogged down with the same sorts of details.

Perhaps surprisingly, the early moments in which we get reacquainted with the Losers offer some of the movie’s most interesting scenes. Even though I didn’t really bond with the characters in the prior film, I still like the way Chapter Two depicts their adult lives, and an excellent cast helps.

When I watched the 1990 version, I preferred the “adolescent” half of It to the “adult” part, and some of that likely related to the cast. No offense to the adults involved, but the mini-series relied on a slew of TV actors and they couldn’t give the material the heft it needed.

No such concerns manifest with Chapter Two, as it boasts some real “A-list” talent. We get notables like Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader, and they help ground the project.

The other Losers are less well-known, but given the oomph provided by those three, this seems less important. The movie doesn’t need “names” for all the Losers, so I think we get a good balance of stars and less familiar faces.

Though I’ll always remain surprised the producers went with Chastain instead of Amy Adams as Beverly Marsh. Sophia Lillis played young Beverly, and she bears an intense resemblance to Adams. Not that Lillis and Chastain look notably dissimilar, but anyone who saw the 2017 film felt like they watched a young Amy Adams.

Chastain does fine in the role, though the best performance of the bunch comes from Hader. Unsurprisingly, he handles the role’s comedic side well, but he also generates strong emotion during other scenes. Hader works wonders in the part.

A fairly intense horror experience, It Chapter Two manages to conclude the saga on a positive note. While not a great film, it works most of the time.

It Chapter Two appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a stellar presentation.

Across the board, definition seemed excellent. Even with a mix of low-light sequences and wide shots, the film appeared accurate and concise.

Jagged edges and moiré effects didn’t mar the presentation, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to appear.

In terms of palette, Chapter Two went with a standard orange and teal orientation, though it went green for significant moments as well. Within stylistic choices, the hues seemed well-depicted, and the disc’s HDR added impact and depth to the tones.

Blacks were dark and dense, and shadows gave us good clarity. The HDR brought out brighter whites and stronger contrast as well. I felt pleased with this top-notch transfer.

As for the Dolby Atmos audio, it offered a mostly typical horror movie soundscape. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, this meant a fair amount of creepy atmosphere and occasional “jolt moments”.

Along with good stereo music, the soundfield was able to open things up in a satisfying manner that embellished the story. We got a good sense of rain and other natural elements along with a useful sense of the spooky elements, with some that worked really well.

Audio quality was always good. Music appeared full and rich, while effects demonstrated nice clarity and accuracy. Low-end appeared deep and rich.

Speech was natural and distinctive throughout the film. The mix used the speakers well and created a fine sense of the material.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical, as both brought the same Atmos mix.

On this Dolby Vision-empowered image, though, the 4K UHD offered a notable picture upgrade. The 4K looked better defined and showed stronger colors, blacks, whites and visual impact. This turned into an impressive step up in quality.

On the 4K UHD disc, we get an audio commentary from director Andy Muschietti, as he brings a running, screen-specific look at the source and its adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, editing and photography, music, and related domains.

Overall, Muschietti offers a fairly good commentary. He fades a little at times, but given the movie’s length, this doesn’t become an issue. The director covers various aspects of the production in a satisfying manner.

Additional extras appear on a separate Blu-ray Disc, and the main attraction comes from two documentaries under the banner of The Summers of It. Together these span a total of one hour, 15 minutes, eight seconds.

Across the two segments, we get notes from Muschietti, producer Barbara Muschietti, acting coach Benjamin Perkins, author Stephen King, and actors Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jaeden Martell, Bill Skarsgård, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Nicholas Hamilton, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jessica Chastain, James Ransone, Jay Ryan, and James McAvoy.

“Summers” examines cast and performances, Pennywise design and makeup, sets and locations, rehearsals, and the director’s impact on the production.

Though both segments work well, the one that addresses the first film fares best, as the second gets a little more focused on happy talk. Still, we get lots of good information across the two parts, so they add up to an involving view of the production.

With Pennywise Lives Again, we find a nine-minute, 55-second featurette that includes remarks from Skarsgård, Andy Muschietti, King, concept artist Vincent Proce, and special makeup effects designer/supervisor Sean Sansom.

As expected, “Again” examines aspects of the ways Chapter Two brought Pennywise to the screen. It acts as a solid complement to the similar program on the prior film’s disc.

This Meeting Of the Losers’ Club Has Officially Begun runs eight minutes, 12 seconds and offers info from Taylor, Jacobs, Grazer, Barbara Muschietti, King, Andy Muschietti, Lillis, Chastain, Mustafa, Hader, Wolfhard, Ransone, Ryan, Martell, McAvoy, Oleff, and actor Andy Bean.

“Club” looks at casting the adult versions of the young characters. On its own, “Club” seems decent, but much of it becomes redundant after the “Summers” documentary.

During Finding the Deadlights, we get a six-minute, 18-second featurette that involves King, Barbara Muschietti, McAvoy and Andy Muschietti. King reflects on aspects of his novel and work in this short but engaging piece.

Two years after the first film, It Chapter Two concludes the tale on a positive note. While not a great horror film, it does much more right than wrong. The 4K UHD boasts excellent visuals along with very good audio and a nice set of supplements. This becomes a satisfactory resolution to the tale, and the 4K UHD makes the film look its best.

To rate this film visit the original review of IT CHAPTER 2