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Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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Mattofthespurs

It. Chapter 2

A missed opportunity in my opinion. Whilst the first one built on friendship and felt more like 'Stand By Me' this one goes back to the tropes of horror films in the 80's and goes for jump shocks, which is a shame, and a complete waste of the excellent cast.

Direction is good but a lazy script lets it down quite badly. Good opening 15 minutes, good closing 5 minutes, everything inbetween is not up to the standards of the first film.

Mattofthespurs

Or, in short, [spoiler]the bullied bully the bully to death.[/spoiler]

Doesn't sit that well tbh. Unless I've read that wrong.

Keef Monkey

I actually really, really enjoyed It Chapter Two and think I like it a lot more than the first film. I liked Chapter One but other than one or two moments it didn't really knock my socks off. This I enjoyed whole-heartedly throughout. I didn't find it scary (but I didn't find the first film scary either - slide projector scene aside) but it works as a dark adventure romp and I did find it nailed that other tricky part of King's writing that usually gets lost in adaptations, his sense of heart and fun.

The movie legit has more (intentional) laugh out loud moments than most mainstream comedies these days, and the themes of childhood friends and memories and the things you lose as you get older sort of snuck up on my emotions so stealthily that I found myself suddenly having a bit of a bubble during one moment. It's treading similar ground to Stand By Me in some respects I suppose, and that's a side of King that I think gets ignored in a lot of movies adaptations that get hung up on the horror side of it.

Thought the casting was really inspired too, they found the perfect adult versions of their child cast, and Bill Hader in particular is magnificent in it. There's also the moment [spoiler]where it just straight up rips off The Thing, which I might have had a problem with if they hadn't done it with such brass and then owned up to immediately. As it stands I loved that moment and thought it was a great nod.[/spoiler]

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2019, 07:45:43 PM
Or, in short, [spoiler]the bullied bully the bully to death.[/spoiler]

Doesn't sit that well tbh. Unless I've read that wrong.

[spoiler]I can totally see how it could be read as an endorsement of retaliatory bullying, but I can't say my mind went there when watching it. Just saw some folk realizing that when you stop running from your problems they don't appear as big as you thought. It's something that I think works just as powerfully for the adult characters as it did for the kids, so I liked it a lot.[/spoiler] It's not perfect by any means, but I really enjoyed it.

We had the Sunday blues last night so spent the evening snuggled up and rewatching the movie equivalent of comfort food, big Trouble In Little China. Still very few movies with the sort of anarchic glee and fun spirit as that film, and it's still an absolute riot.

wedgeski

I enjoyed It Chaper Two a lot, but I had been led to believe by a couple of reviews that it was a five-star masterpiece, and it isn't. The adult casting was brilliant, with special props to James Ransone (thanks imdb) whose extension of Jack Dylan Grazer's (ditto) amazing performance as Eddie in the first one could have been awful, but ended up a riot. Lots of comedy, which I think is how any one of us would try to deal with a situation so bizarre and horrific, and lots of the feels as well...all-in-all very good from a character standpoint. I did not like ending, especially since they edited the werewolf out of the first chapter, where the whole "it must abide by whatever form it takes" theme should've been foreshadowed.

TordelBack

Quote from: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 11:06:08 AM
... they edited the werewolf out of the first chapter...

At least that removed any opportunity to obsess over Bev's 11-year-old breasts for the equivalent of a hundred pages or so...

I haven't seen either film, but fresh off a highly enjoyable re-read (with heavy caveats for all the underage perving) 'm keen to do so. Does Chapter 2 wrap things up completely?

wedgeski

Quote from: TordelBack on 09 September, 2019, 01:23:25 PMI haven't seen either film, but fresh off a highly enjoyable re-read (with heavy caveats for all the underage perving) 'm keen to do so. Does Chapter 2 wrap things up completely?
Yup, done and done, no hint of any sequel escape hatches.

Mattofthespurs

Quote from: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 11:06:08 AM
I enjoyed It Chaper Two a lot, but I had been led to believe by a couple of reviews that it was a five-star masterpiece, and it isn't.

The Times and The Mail on Sunday both gave it two stars which I am inclined to agree with. Much preferred Chapter 1. In my opinion it's a fairly solid 3 star film.

Mattofthespurs

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Not that bad tbh. Obviously aimed at the 15-19 year old market but more fun than I expected. Has the habit, as most films do these days (and I'm looking at you, It Chapter 2), of going on far too long.

Mattofthespurs

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 02:11:32 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 11:06:08 AM
I enjoyed It Chaper Two a lot, but I had been led to believe by a couple of reviews that it was a five-star masterpiece, and it isn't.

The Times and The Mail on Sunday both gave it two stars which I am inclined to agree with. Much preferred Chapter 1. In my opinion it's a fairly solid 3 star film.

And yes, even I can see the mistake I made there.

Link Prime

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 02:13:06 PM
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Not that bad tbh. Obviously aimed at the 15-19 year old market

Yeah, the trailers made that clear, so I didn't bother with it.
Someone mentioned up-thread that it would be a good training-wheels horror movie, so I might get to watch it with my nephews at some stage.
They planned to watch Krampus (2015) last Christmas to pop their horror cherry, but bottled it at the last minute!

Mattofthespurs

I quite enjoyed Krampus too (although not as much as the Inside No 9 Krampus episode).

It appears that whenever I go into a film with expectations I am often disappointed but when I am expecting nothing I find myself far more relaxed and enjoy what is presented to me.

Having said that I would be far more prepared to re-watched It Chapter 2 than Scary Stories. It, is of course, far more layered than Scary Stories which is just a straight horror story.

von Boom

Stan and Ollie. Loved it. Coogan was perfect. Now I need to watch Alpha Papa again.

radiator


The Kid Who Would Be King

Caught this on a flight just now. It's a real shame it flopped and that there is seemingly absolutely no one out there championing - or even talking about - it,  as I thought it was a charming little family film that deserved to do much better. I smiled a lot throughout, and the guy who plays young Merlin is a hoot, easily the standout character and actor. It's testament to how funny and watchable he is that while Merlin's older self is sporadically played by an extremely well-loved older actor,  you actually find yourself wishing you were watching the young guy and not him.

If I have a complaint, its that the film is a good 20mins too long - there's a lengthy section in the second act that really should have been cut. There are at least one too many 'all is lost' moments, and the film as a whole seems like it would flow much better with a zippier 90-100 minute running time. Still, its a strong four out of five for me and a future cult classic for many, I expect/hope. For a 2000ad connection, I caught ex art droid Robert Bliss' name in the credits as a concept artist.

I also tried to watch Bumblebee (another recent underperforming family film) on the same flight but switched it off after 30 minutes or so. I haven't seen any of the previous Transformers films but I had heard good things about this one. Didn't really do anything for me - the script and dialogue seemed very trite and witless compared to that of The Kid Who Would Be King, and the overuse of the period pop soundtrack was a bit obnoxious. I like 80s music as much as the next person, but constantly blasting 20 seconds of a different song seemed a bit hack, and is excessive to the point where it started to get on my nerves a bit.

TordelBack

#13408
Heh, whereas Bumblebee is the only Transformers movie I've really enjoyed, I thought it was quite charming. Not a patch on TKWBK mind, which was endlessly entertaining and even surprising in places, with a great cast. I do agree though, quite a bit too long - I'd have cut a bit off the 3rd Act rather than the 2nd: but it's still a future classic in my book, deserving of a slot on the shelf between The Railway Children and Labyrinth. Deserved much better treatment, and probably a much better title too. (I've a proper review somewhere upthread).

radiator

#13409
QuoteDeserved much better treatment, and probably a much better title too. (I've a proper review somewhere upthread).

The studio really sent it out to die, didn't they? The marketing was dreadful - even the posters sucked. And was it written into [spoiler]Patrick Stewart's[/spoiler] contract to not appear in any trailers? His appearence would be a neat surprise if you weren't expecting it (hence the spoiler tag) but it seemed odd to not even mention him in the marketing. Hope it eventually finds the audience it deserves on streaming.