I mean, I have no idea what should I think about both movies.
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| But I know what I think about the poster: it's one of the best movie posters I've ever seen. |
SPOILER ALERT
Despite being an "adaptation purist" I'm not going to point out the differences between book and movies... Or, at least, not all of them. To be honest, I don't remember much details about the novel and the fact it's so fucking long you can basically kill with it doesn't help. I also understand that, because of its length and form, doing faithful adaptation is pretty impossible. King has very peculiar style of writing, which doesn't translate well into movies. However, I still don't get why the most interesting parts of the story got left out. I don't demand to make half of the movie talk about Patrick Hockstetter and his sadistic tendencies, but damn, it would be nice if he and rest of Bowers' gang had a little bit more screen time instead of just being there and getting killed. The same goes for Tom Rogan and Audra Denbrough. They are pretty important characters in the book and it's disappointing each of them got just one short scene. I know adding their subplots would make "Chapter Two" much longer, but the final confrontation with Pennywise is so boring, shortening it in favour of Tom and Audra's scenes would be only beneficial.
But the biggest change that hit me hard is picturing Stan's suicide as heroic sacrifice. In the book Stan kills himself, because he's too scared to face It again. In the movie he does the same... But it's okay, because if he lived, he wouldn't be able to fight Pennywise and rest of characters would fail without him. In a letter he states that being dead doesn't count and Losers can win while being aided by his spirit. No, really. I'll be honest: WHAT THE FUCK, SCREENWRITERS?! Glorifying suicide is the worst thing to do EVER, not to mention the justification is lame as hell. Damn, it actually paints suicide as the best thing you can do when not being able to overcome your fears. I don't want to think how much harm will watching this scene do in suicidal people's minds. Really, this world doesn't need any more Werther-like shit. (By the way, Stan doesn't make a good Werther. Werther was way more annoying).
Another problem I have with both movies is they are not scary at all. I mean, I know everyone has different tolerance, but I expect horrors to create at least tense atmosphere. They don't have to make me scream, I just want them to make me feel uneasy. Unfortunately, both chapters fail miserably (at least in field of "typical scares", but I will talk about it later). "Chapter One" is just one, never ending festivals of jump scares. It wouldn't be a bad thing, jump scares can be pretty effective if utilised well. Consider "Layers of Fear". There are lots of jump scares. However, the game itself has an amazing climate, which brings players on the edge of their seats, waiting for next scary thing to happen. For me, "Chapter One" lacks said climate. More, most attempts of building it only spoil upcoming scares. Goddammit, I was able to predict most of jump scares before they happened! And I'm not very good at it, really!
"Chapter Two" is slightly better in scaring, but eventual atmosphere gets quickly killed by pacing problems (as I mentioned, final fight is long, chaotic and horribly boring) and gags. Especially gags. There is nothing bad in mixing horror with comedy, but the way it is done in "Chapter Two" makes me wonder if particular scenes were actually meant to be scary or just funny. Okay, the Pomeranian puppy scene is funny. So is the vomiting leper scene (I know how it sounds, but don't worry, it makes sense in the context... Kinda). But what about flashback with Ben being tormented at school? It is so over the top I just couldn't take it seriously. Similarly, Mrs. Kersh. Her way of moving? Unsettling. Glimpses of her decaying body? Creepy. Her transforming into twisted, CGI witch? Um... She looks strange, but not scary. The fact moment earlier she runs around apartment completely naked only adds to general WTFness of this scene. WTFness, but not scariness.
But my absolute favourite in terms of destroying horror is the festival scene. First, we get very tense build up with Bill rushing to save a boy threatened by Pennywise. Then, he gets lost in maze of mirrors. When he finally reaches the boy, he is stopped by a glass wall he can't break. The boy gets trapped in a glass box with Bill on one side and Pennywise on the other... Who proceeds to lick the glass.
No, really. He licks the glass. And looks like an animal. Damn, just look at this:
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| Lick lickity lick! |
And now at this:
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| Slurp! |
And what about the way the ritual got mangled? The original one is creepy as hell. Even the most bizarre things about it, like biting the tongues or the fact heroes are supported by a galaxy-vomiting turtle (an evidence of King's genius or sign he was totally smashed during writing. Or both), doesn't stand out. What we have in the movie? Setting the fire in a wooden (!) container (or at least it looks like wood. Or skin. Just something flammable), putting there things that induce nostalgia and chanting some magic words. As you can imagine, the whole scene is as cheesy as it sounds. I'm not surprised that this version doesn't work. Damn, occult "rituals" my best friend was doing in the primary school were more convincing than this.
However, there is one thing "Chapter Two" does decently – it shows that humans are real monsters. Only scene that actually is scary is murder of Adrian Mellon. Watching him and his boyfriend getting beaten just because they weren't straight made me really uncomfortable. Actually, I was really scared. The fear wasn't fuelled by the fact it could happen. What is really scary about this scene is things like that happen. As you can remember, my country's actual government isn't very kind towards LGBT+ society. It makes "Chapter Two's" beginning even more terrifying to watch. The worst thing? The attackers don't even get punished. And it happens in real life...
This little fact also explains, why Richie's story hit me so much. While it's only suggested in the book, the movies make it clear he's a closeted homosexual (or bisexual, only his attraction towards men is confirmed) and his rants about women and sex are a way of coping with it. Actually, his arc is very tragic. Because of being raised in very homophobic neighbourhood he had no opportunity to accept himself and grew up believing he should hide his true self. His true fear aren't clowns – he's afraid that his surroundings will learn about his secret and alienate him. Years later he still stays in his closet, alone and unhappy. Actually, he's only living member of the Losers Club who doesn't get a happy ending. He's been in love with his childhood friend, Eddie, for years (something I can relate – I've been crushing on my gorgeous classmate for really long and never managed to tell her). He had no courage to confess his love. And then Eddie got killed. In the end Richie still hasn't come out and, as a result, is doomed to grieve for the love of his life alone. This sight is truly heartbreaking.
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| Poor, poor Richie. This man deserves a hug. A lot of hugs... |
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| This poster isn't as good as "Chapter One's", but it's still very nice. |
Image sources:
All movie stills were screenshot by me from official trailers and belong to Warner Bros. Pictures.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhJ5P7Up3jA
"Chapter One's" poster: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396484/mediaviewer/rm2985515264
Doggie licking the glass: https://petsfans.com/this-is-the-reason-why-dogs-are-fond-of-licking-glass/
"Chapter Two's" poster: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7349950/mediaviewer/rm4174210304