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1%% Please do not add any Broken Base or Base-Breaking Character entries until at least six months after the release date. Remember that Broken Base is for prolonged conflicts.
2%% Please do not add any woobie entries that weren't approved by the cleanup.( https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15391212720A38366900&page=1 ). Discussion will have to take place on September 20 or later.
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4* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
5** In Richie's flashback at the movie theater, [[spoiler:Henry Bowers' cousin is shown playing ''VideoGame/StreetFighterI'' with him but turns on Richie after Bowers himself arrives, even mockingly accusing Richie of trying to seduce him into something sexual]]. [[BitchInSheepsClothing Was he planning to embarrass Richie in front of Henry and the other kids at the theatre the whole time]], or did he genuinely like Richie [[spoiler:(platonically or otherwise)]] and was just trying to be on Henry's side to avoid his older cousin's wrath? What footage it does show (such as the two high-fiving while they play, fingers brushing just a little too long) could support both theories.
6** There's a small amount of belief that [[spoiler:Dean itself wasn't actually a real person but rather IT attempting to manipulate not only the entire Losers, but Bill in particular, due to his lingering guilt over Georgie's death]].
7* {{Anvilicious}}: The final confrontation with It turns into a fable about facing down bullies.
8* AwardSnub: Following the announcement of the Academy Award nominations, some can feel Bill Hader was cheated out of receiving a nomination for Best Supporting Actor following showing off his rare dramatic chops in this film. To a lesser extent, some can also think that James Ransone should have received an Academy Award nomination too for his performance as Eddie. Also once again, this film wasn't nominated for Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Make-Up and Best Adapted Screenplay.
9* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Right in the middle of [[spoiler:Eddie's confrontation with the leper in the back of the pharmacy, the leper vomits a stream of BadBlackBarf onto Eddie's face]]... while "Angel of the Morning" plays for approximately five seconds.
10* CatharsisFactor: This is the most evil Pennywise has ever been, and unlike the '90 miniseries, there's no big spider (Well, [[spoiler:not a [[SpiderPeople whole spider]] exactly, that is)]]. [[spoiler:Like the book, you get to see Pennywise beaten down, terrified, whimpering and all but begging for his life as he's reduced to sheer powerlessness and destroyed for good.]]
11* CompleteMonster: [[YMMV/It2017 Pennywise again]]. See that page for details.
12* ContestedSequel: The general consensus seems to be that the movie is not as good as its predecessor, though opinions are split on whether or not the movie is good on its own merits.
13* CriticalDissonance: It's seen as SoOkayItsAverage by critics but audiences were nicer to it. Just for comparison, the film's critical score on ''Website/RottenTomatoes'' is a lukewarm 62% whereas the audience rating is a lukewarm but still much more positive 78%.
14* CrossesTheLineTwice:
15** Pennywise tormenting Richie [[spoiler:[[ArmoredClosetGay about his secret sexuality]]]] would just be cruel and hard to watch if he were not doing it in the form of an [[https://youtu.be/Hu30X3m3EXE?t=36 over the top song]], complete with the [[FunnyBackgroundEvent people behind Richie swaying their heads to the tune]].
16** A lot of the humor runs on this. The scene where Richie kills [[spoiler:Bowers]] comes to mind, most especially.
17-->'''Richie:''' [[{{Pun}} Well,]] ''[[{{Pun}} that]]'' [[{{Pun}} was long overdue]]. [[DontExplainTheJoke Get it? Because we're in a library, and]]-- (''[[VomitIndiscretionShot pukes]]'')
18* DieForOurShip:
19** Myra, Eddie's wife (who is played by his mom's actor) is not very popular in the fanbase, with the overwhelming majority of fans shipping Eddie with [[spoiler:Richie]] and generally ignoring her existence.
20%%** Connor Bowers, Henry's cousin, who [[spoiler:Richie]] had a crush on as a child.
21* EnsembleDarkhorse: Stan's wife, Patty Uris, gets little screentime, but it's a general consensus that she's a pretty good person from the little we do get from her.
22* EpilepticTrees: Seeing as both came out in 2019, fans speculated that this film would have a scene to cross over with or tie into ''Film/DoctorSleep''. [[spoiler: This ultimately turned out to not be the case, though the climax does feature a ShoutOut to the other film's [[Film/TheShining predecessor]]]].
23* HarsherInHindsight: ''Chapter Two'' opened just days after a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Conception horrific and well-publicized fire]] on a dive boat that claimed the lives of 34 people trapped aboard - which can make the imagery of the fire that killed Mike's parents and many others especially hard to watch, with its very heavy emphasis on those trapped within screaming and struggling to escape.
24** Also worse, since Pennywise's return is always preceded by an awful event (the Black Spot fire, the Bradley Gang shooting and, in this film, the savage beating of Adrian Mellon by homophobic thugs).
25* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: The actors playing the older Losers Club have been widely praised for recapturing and building upon the already well-received performances of their younger counterparts.
26** Creator/BillHader's performance as the older Richie has been particularly singled out for praise. Hader provides the film with much needed levity while also able to express serious fear when being terrorized by Pennywise which Hader himself said he had trouble doing before and carrying some of its most emotional moments, [[spoiler:with [[HeroicBSOD his reaction to Eddie's death being especially heartbreaking]]]]. For this range Hader has, it's already gotten to a point [[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/08/it-chapter-two-first-reactions-bill-hader-oscar-1202167684/ critics think Hader deserves an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance]].
27** James Ransone as Eddie arguably bears the strongest resemblance to his younger counterpart, both in appearance and mannerisms.
28** Isaiah Mustafa is most known as [[Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike the Old Spice Guy]] but manages to bring a suitably grim seriousness to his performance as adult Mike.
29** Creator/BillSkarsgard once again is absolutely frightening as Pennywise with even more opportunities to show off the clown's inhuman and uncanny nature, now with the added edge of sadistic TranquilFury as Pennywise has a specific grudge against the Losers Club this time around.
30** Creator/JamesMcAvoy also deserves credit for his performance as adult Bill. He's great at capturing an older version of the {{Stutter Stop}}ping NiceGuy played by Creator/JaedenMartell, and his determination makes you practically ''begging'' for him to [[spoiler:protect Dean and atone for not saving Georgie when he was younger, but he unfortunately fails just as hardly as last time.]]
31** Creator/SophiaLillis and Jaeden Martell both get to play Pennywise, showing off a whole new range than their roles as the young Beverly and Bill.
32* HesJustHiding: The fandom ''overwhelmingly'' ignores [[spoiler:Eddie's death]] to the point that it's actually hard to find fanworks where [[spoiler:he dies and stays dead]].
33** Some fans also ignore [[spoiler:Stan's death]], though not nearly to the extent of [[spoiler:Eddie]] since [[spoiler:Stan not coming back to Derry with his friends and thus not being present for all of the film's events makes his suicide much harder to ignore.]]
34* HilariousInHindsight:
35** Just the fact that [[Film/Shazam2019 a completely unrelated movie had Jack Dylan Grazer's character represented by an older actor before this one did]].
36** Along the same lines, this is the second film in 2019 to star Creator/JamesMcAvoy and Creator/JessicaChastain [[Film/DarkPhoenix involving shapeshifting aliens from another planet]]. Whereas in the former Chastain WAS one of the aliens, with [=McAvoy=] fighting them. Here, they're on the same side fighting the alien threat.
37** In ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', the titular character has to fight the villain King Candy in a half cybug form that bears a strong resemblance to It's half-spider, half-Pennywise final form.
38** In one of the flashbacks, Richie runs away from Pennywise as a giant Paul Bunyan who is going to eat him. As of 2019, director Andy Muschietti is currently attached to Hollywood adaptation of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''.
39** A bloopers video featured Jack Dylan Grazer in 2017 saying he didn't think [[spoiler:Eddie and Richie were gay]]. ''Technically'' he [[spoiler:might be correct only about the former, but definitely not the latter]]. Still better than Finn Wolfhard, who described them as "brothers" after the release of Chapter One. Even funnier, is that Jack Dylan Grazer later came out as bisexual.
40** Sophia Lillis was one of the tallest kids during the first film (standing only at 5 feet). In the following years, the rest of the cast now ''towers'' over her. Finn Wolfhard even commented on this during an interview about how she was the one who needed the least de-aging CGI.
41* HoYay:
42** A number of fans have pointed out that Stan's suicide scene kind of gives the impression that Stan was in love with Bill. The scene focuses entirely on his fond memory of Bill and Bill alone, complete with a flashback to the blood oath from the first movie that takes the form of a slow motion, soft focus shot of Bill bathed in golden light and gazing intensely into Stan's eyes.
43** As adults, Bill and Mike are very affectionate and touchy-feely with each other. They're also the only members of the Losers Club to openly say "I love you" to each other, even beating out [[OfficialCouple Ben and Beverly!]]
44** While Richie[[spoiler:, who canonically is an ArmoredClosetGay,]] is going on about how hot Ben is as an adult, there's a shot of Eddie looking rather appreciatively at Ben as well. In the same scene, Eddie can be heard exclaiming, "Let's take off our shirts and kiss!" while arm-wrestling Richie. And no, there is absolutely no context to this, nor is it explained later on.
45* HollywoodHomely: Downplayed in Richie's case. Upon seeing the adult Ben and Beverly, he [[SelfDeprecatingHumor remarks "what the fuck happened to me?" in a pretty disappointed voice]], despite being played by Creator/BillHader who at worst is just a little unkempt with a permastubble. Then again, it is ''Richie'' we're talking about, and that is something he would say.
46* MoralEventHorizon: If nothing else Pennywise did in the first movie or before this very point in the second crossed it, then he finally definitively crosses it when the Losers all return to Derry. To further clarify, he [[spoiler:tells Bill that Georgie's death is his fault for not being there in his place as he faked being sick. Then, in a ''very'' special KickTheDog moment, Bill is ForcedToWatch and relive his traumatic childhood when Pennywise takes childish glee in trapping and graphically devouring Dean, another young boy whom Bill wanted to protect as to make amends for his supposed failure to save his own little brother all those years ago. And the kicker to all this? [[HeroicSacrifice Bill tells Pennywise to take him instead since he's there now]], but the latter rejects the former's request out of sadism and spite.]]
47* {{Narm}}:
48** The NoHoldsBarredBeatdown of Adrian Mellon loses some of its horror after the umpteenth BigNo Don lets out, while also repeatedly [[SayMyName screaming Adrian's name out]]. Not to mention, how Don screaming "ADRIAN!" can remind some viewers of a [[Film/{{Rocky}} certain boxing film]].
49** Mrs. Kersh's sudden pause should have been creepy. Instead it feels like a moment in a sitcom where the canned laughter is supposed to be added.
50** Pennywise's monstrous version of Mrs. Kersh looks cartoonish, owing more in appearance to [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Judge Doom]] (without the intended NightmareFuel) than [[Film/TheShining the woman in Room 237]].
51** Mrs. Kersh's movements and mannerisms are supposed to be unnerving and unnatural, which is pretty effective for the most part... except for one scene where she's watching Bev from a distance as she's reminiscing over Ben's postcard as a child, and then she's shown flailing her arms around in a manner not too dissimilar to [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Zoidberg.]]
52** While the second trailer is indeed very powerful, there's a moment in the aforementioned TearJerker scene where Pennywise has a long tongue coming out of his mouth. While it is supposed to be scary, it can easily be compared to the dog-filter from Instagram.
53** When Pennywise appears in Ben's locker with him, it could've made for an effective jumpscare if not for Pennywise's face, which is supposed to mock Ben's scared face, but instead comes off like it's constipated.
54** The Losers' final TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Pennywise, perhaps the worst case of important, serious dialogue being drowned out by the rest of the sound mix since [[Film/TheNeverendingStory the Childlike Empress getting her new name.]]
55** When the Losers [[spoiler:finally get IT in its weakest form, the face of Pennywise is so cartoonishly slopped onto the rocks that it makes it look like an old Anti-Smoking commercial more than it being close to death.]]
56** IT's new spider design has been mocked for blatantly shoehorning in the popular Pennywise persona, resulting in a weird mishmash. Aptly described on WebVideo/HalfInTheBag as "In the book there's a giant spider. But people like the clown. CLOWN SPIDER!!!"
57* NarmCharm:
58** The way Pennywise is defeated. The clown is essentially... ''bullied'' to death. But at the same time, it's actually a rather fitting way for IT to die, and it shows how weak and pathetic IT really is while serving as a nice cap to the message of how standing up to bullies deprives them of power.
59** Richie's comical comebacks and remarks are so frequent and out of place in a cosmic horror story, yet given the weird shit he's seen as a kid and what's unfolding in front of him now, it's all but stated that he's simply using humor as a way to cope with all the dark things happening to him and his friends.
60** The way Henry Bowers laughs at the sight of Pennywise's red balloon in the mental institution is so over-the-top and hammy for an adult to act, but considering he's practically gone mentally insane after murdering his father and his friends, it comes off shockingly realistic and turns back around to being creepy again.
61** Bill reliving his childhood by riding down the road on his old bike, Silver, and laughing like a child as he's riding, complete with him shouting "''Hi Ho, Silver!''" It's laughable to see a grown adult acting like this, but since it plays into the main goal the Losers are trying to do (remember their childhoods for the Ritual of Chüd), add on that it's been 27 years since Bill has even been to Derry, and it turns back into a SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoment.
62* OlderThanTheyThink: [[spoiler: Adrian Mellon's death drew controversy, with many criticizing the real-life parallels to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Charlie_Howard the murder of Charlie Howard,]] a real life young gay man who died very similarly, minus Pennywise. The scene was accused of being added into the movie for "gay-bashing" or simply shock value but this scene was actually a scene from the original book that was cut from the [[Film/{{It1990}} TV miniseries]] and was meant to show just how monstrous IT was, drawing on Charlie Howard's murder two years prior to the release of the novel.]]
63* OneSceneWonder:
64** [[spoiler:Creator/StephenKing appears as the antique store owner who Bill buys Silver back from, with his acting style fitting the role of a crabby old man much better than some of his other cameos.]]
65** Brandon Crane, who played young Ben in ''Film/It1990'', is in the boardroom meeting of this film's adult Ben.
66** Tom Rogan proves himself to be quite chilling and brutal as Bev's abusive husband, perhaps even more so then his miniseries-self. As noted in TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter below, some moviegoers thought he would be a better pivotal antagonist hunting the Losers for Pennywise than Henry Bowers.
67** Victoria, the young girl with the birth mark, only appears in two scenes but manages to be quite cute and endearing [[spoiler:which makes her death even sadder]].
68** Creator/PeterBogdanovich as the director of the film adaptation of Bill's book.
69** Mrs. Kersh, one of IT's roles, is in a relatively brief scene, but stands out as being very unnerving, with many reviewers noting that she was actually scarier before she turned into the Witch monster at the end of the scene.
70* {{Padding}}: The subplot with an older Henry Bowers escaping the asylum and hunting the Losers has been criticized for adding very little to the film besides bloating out the runtime, and something that was only in the film because it was in the book. [[spoiler:With the exception of injuring Mike and Eddie, Bowers has no other effect on the plot, and after Richie kills him to defend Mike, he is never mentioned again. He isn't even able to injure the two to the extent that he did in the book (crippling Eddie in one arm and nearly killing Mike).]]
71** The scenes with the kids have also been criticized for being in the film just because of the popularity of the actors' performances in the previous movie.
72* SignatureScene: Pennywise's appearances under the bleachers and in the hall of mirrors [[spoiler:(a.k.a. his two successful child murders)]] were heavily featured in the film's advertisements and have been cited by critics and fans as among the scariest and most well-acted scenes in the film.
73* StrangledByTheRedString: Despite being the fan preferred over the two ships, that doesn't change the fact that for the majority of the film, Bev is set up to be with Bill, not Ben. And while most of the Bill/Bev material shows them actually bonding, her scenes with Ben are mostly from Ben's side until the very, very end.
74* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
75** Tom Rogan (and Bill's wife Audra) completely disappear from the film after their introduction scenes, and the subplots from the book where they follow Bill and Beverly to Derry and encounter It are AdaptedOut. Some fans of the book felt these subplots would have added more to the film [[{{Padding}} than the Bowers one that it kept.]]
76** Dean and Victoria, young children who are preyed upon by Pennywise. While implied to be as isolated and bullied as the Losers were due to respectively being a newcomer and having a disfiguring birthmark, they could have been good representations of a new generation facing down evil with them shown to be wary or aware of Pennywise. [[spoiler:Instead they are killed off after only brief appearances.]]
77** The gang that attacked Adrian Mellon and his partner. With the time spent with them beating up the couple and throwing Adrian off the bridge, you would think they were being potentially set up the secondary antagonists much like Henry Bower's gang in the previous film. Instead, they flee the scene and outright disappear from the rest of the film without getting any comeuppance.
78** Adrian's partner, Don, could have also potentially played a sizable role in the film. He was the only other adult character besides the Losers' Club to see IT. Don could have filled in the void left by Stanley and could have been looking for revenge for Adrian. Even Mike could have questioned Don about IT. Instead, Don just disappears from the film and is never seen or mentioned again, though this is in accordance with the book.
79** Even Greta Keene falls victim to this. While she was TheScrappy in the first film, the second film presented an opportunity for her to be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap by an odd almost-sort-of VitriolicBestBuds relationship with Eddie (where the "best buds" part is entirely on Eddie and the "vitriol" part is entirely on Greta) to be expanded upon more in the past and present, and since she's still living in Derry in the present day, Bev could have confronted her and gotten some closure with her childhood bully. Instead, she's essentially a cameo and seems to have undergone zero change from the person she was in her youth, her exchange with Eddie is brief, and she and Bev never meet with each other despite IT using a younger Greta as part of a vision to torment Bev in the climax.
80* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
81** [[spoiler:Richie receives AdaptationalSexuality and is all but stated to be a closeted gay man. Despite IT using his secret to taunt him, there is no scene where Richie faces his fear and comes out to the group, and there is no indication that he plans to come out after IT is defeated]].
82** Despite being frequently hinted at in both the first film (the old woman who sees Georgie being killed, the car that drives past Ben being mutilated by Henry) and in this film (Victoria's mother making no effort to stop her daughter chasing a firefly to her doom), the IT-influenced malaise and apathy of the adults of Derry never becomes a plot point - or even really mentioned - the way it is in the book and mini-series.
83** Despite adding a reference to ''Film/TheShining'' with Pennywise saying "Here's Johnny!" through a door, the film removes the book's flashback featuring a young Dick Hallorann.
84* ToughActToFollow: The first movie was warmly received and considered one of the best Creator/StephenKing adaptations to date, so naturally ''Chapter Two'' would have a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, the mixed (but still mostly positive) reception indicates the film couldn't quite escape its predecessor's shadow.
85* UnintentionallySympathetic: Eddie hanging back while everyone else [[spoiler: rescues Beverly from IT when it drags her underwater]] is framed as cowardly, but given that Eddie had an open stab wound in his face at the time, not wanting to dive headfirst into literal sewage is pretty understandable.
86* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Stanley's suicide or [[spoiler:rather his "sacrifice."]] It's meant to come across as a tough but [[spoiler:ultimately the right choice, as his sacrifice would be necessary to ensure the Losers presented a united front against IT.]] But the problem is that we don’t learn of this until after [[spoiler:IT's defeat]] and most of the time until then presented it as if he were too afraid to face IT again. Instead, his [[spoiler:"not suicide"]] letter comes more across as Stanley trying to rationalize and justify his cowardice.
87* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids:
88** The Australian marketing team had the bright idea to put an especially terrifying shot of Pennywise on giant public billboards, to many parents' complaints and children's nightmares.
89** The month before the film's release, IMAX screenings of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019 The Lion King]]'' at AMC Theaters had the film's trailer attached to it. Given this is a rated-R horror film, putting it before one of the major tentpole family films of summer 2019 wasn't the best idea.
90* TheWoobie: Oh, some people in Derry are to be pitied...
91** Adrian Mellon is a kind and normal guy who even gives a prize he won to a little girl for 'letting him win'. Unfortunately he and his boyfriend are later set upon by a brutal group of homophobes who proceed to brutally beat both of them with Adrian in particular being nearly killed after the aforementioned beating ended with him being thrown off a bridge which leads to Pennywise finding him who then makes Adrian his first victim in 27 years.
92** Adrian's boyfriend Don Hagerty is this as well. Like Adrian, he's also a kind and normal guy who is then forced to watch his boyfriend be beaten to near death and then thrown off a bridge all while he's being beaten up himself. Afterwards, Don can only watch helplessly as his boyfriend is killed by Pennywise. His look of relief when seeing Pennywise fish Adrian out of the river - thinking he was a good Samaritan - turning to one of horror is ''heartbreaking''. To make this worse, he's never seen in the film again.
93** The aforementioned little girl, Victoria, or "Vicky," is given a surprising amount of depth beyond 'victim'. She has a port-wine stain mark on her face, resulting in people mocking and ridiculing her, and Pennywise targets her by appealing to her sense of empathy and kindness before promising to remove the mark (by killing her). Even worse, her mother is shown to be [[AbusiveParents quite cold]] to her, meaning Adrian's act of kindness (as she was the girl that got the prize he won at the beginning) might be the one major expression of kindness she's experienced in a long time and even that didn't last as shortly afterward Adrian was brutally beaten by a group of homophobes and then killed by Pennywise meaning she lost the one person who showed her any kindness.
94** Dean, a young boy in Derry, is haunted by Pennywise and targeted mostly to torment Bill himself. The poor kid is mistaken for a form of Pennywise by Richie, who he's clearly a fan of, resulting in an enraged rant from him (which Richie regretted immediately after realizing his mistake), and then he's frequently terrorized by the adults who're only wanting to help him for reason he can't understand. Then, along comes Pennywise, who corners him in a house of mirrors to sadistically murder with savage relish.
95** Richie. If you thought what he went in the first movie was horrible, he gets it worse this time around. He accidentally scares away a fan (the aforementioned Dean) after he thought he was Pennywise, [[spoiler:is tormented by Pennywise himself for his secret (being gay), and then watches his best friend and crush Eddie die (and is covered in his blood). The last time we see him on the film, Richie is re-carving his and Eddie's initials on the kissing bridge, implying he hasn't really moved on from Eddie's death. Out of the remaining Losers alive, he gets the short end of the stick when it comes to closure.]]
96** Eddie as well. Loses his friend Stan, crashes his car, gets vomited on by Pennywise, stabbed in the face by Henry, yelled at by Bill and is finally [[spoiler:fatally impaled by Pennywise in front of a horrified Richie.]]
97* {{Woolseyism}}: A very odd inversion of this happens in the Japanese dub: Unlike what happened in the Japanese translation of the original novel and in the previous 90s mini-series, the dub of the duology left the name of the Losers' Club [[GratuitousEnglish in English]] (as ルーザーズクラブ) instead of using "Make-Inu Club/負け犬クラブ". While "Make-Inu" also translate as "loser" just like in English, in Japanese the word also means "losing dog/animal" and it's very likely they didn't want to use a very degrading term for a group of already screwed-up kids who are being preyed by an inhuman monster, [[CharactersDroppingLikeFlies due to the implications that word brings out to Japanese audiences]].[[note]]"Make-Inu" brings in mind the term "犬死/Inujini,", which is normally translated as "dying like a dog/a dog's death", which, when is already damning enough in many western languages, the term is particularly worse in Japanese, as it's also an idiom for SenselessSacrifice, that's it, as dying like a dirty animal, as well of being a severe insult. This was especially used in the past during wars, when dying in such a way was considered one of the worst ways to die for anyone else, be a civilian, a soldier, a {{Samurai}}, etc.[[/note]]

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