It Chapter Two Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

4. Not Enough Pennywise

In another unexpected comparison to Avengers: Endgame, It Chapter Two ends up treating antagonist Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) much like how Endgame treated Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Both movies are sequels to hugely successful films noted for their evocative treatment of an instantly iconic villain, and both pushed that popular antagonist to the background to provide more breathing room for the ensemble cast.

Even so, there's a shocking lack of Pennywise in this film, especially in the opening hour where he appears for maybe five minutes at most.

Massive chunks of the rest of the movie see the Losers being terrorised by other frights Pennywise has prepared for them, and there are depressingly few scenes where the clown is able to have a sustained presence.

Bill Skarsgård does very well with what little he has, for sure, but after the first film gave him countless marquee scenes to thoroughly creep us out, he feels like a bit of an afterthought in his own movie this time around.