When IT: Chapter One hit theaters a couple of years back, it did the impossible. It managed to take half of the story of the gigantic Stephen King tome that is IT, and boil it down to a couple hour movie. Not only that, but it did it incredibly well, managing to capture the nostalgia, emotions, and terror that the novel had. 

Would the sequel be able to do the same thing? With the kids having grown up, they would no longer have the nostalgia factor to fall back on, and as great as the narrative as a whole is in the novel, the older storyline is where things got a little…weird. So, did director Andy Muschietti actually pull it off?

The film’s first reviews have hit the web, and while the consensus seems to be that it doesn’t hold a candle to the first film, the overall thoughts aren’t horrific. That being said, it’s worth noting that a lot of the negative reviews come from the major trades.

RELATED – IT: Chapter Two: James Ransone On Matching Jack Dylan Grazer’s Fast Performance

With that in mind, the review from Variety, is probably the most middling review:

“An elaborate fun-house horror movie that springs pop-up gimmicks and boogie-boogie scares steadily enough to excuse its been-there story and self-important 169-minute running time.”

THR seemed to have the same opinion on the matter.

“Literally doubling the number of actors that played key roles in its predecessor, 2017’s Chapter One, the film puts excellent thesps in the parts but winds up feeling much less satisfying.”

EW was one of the harsher reviews, pretty much condemning the flick’s runtime.

“But really, the main problem with Chapter Two is that it goes on, and on, for so very long. If brevity is not necessarily the soul of a good scare, it would certainly serve a story that sends in the clowns, and then lets them just stay there — leering and lurking and chewing through scene after scene — until the there’s nothing left to do but laugh, or leave.”

On the other hand, The New York Post was quite fond of the film, saying:

“Kicking off the fall, Chapter Two handily outdoes most of this year’s major summer blockbusters such as Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Unlike those, the sequel to the 2017 mega-hit It is an immensely satisfying, often thrilling adventure film.”

And these seem to be the two points critics seem to be making — with the positive reviews calling it satisfying and the negative ones calling it too long. Pretty much every other review out there seems to drill these two points home, and depending on how ultimately satisfying one felt the film was dictated how positive the review ultimately was.

What do you think of the first reviews? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Various (linked above)