IT… Underwhelms!

10 ISSUE 343 WWW.WEEKENDERBAHRAIN.COM as there ever been an author, past or present, whose name has been as synonymous with the horror genre as that of Stephen King’s? While wordsmiths like H.P.Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe are trailblazers of the industry, King took what they previously established to new heights that were thought IT Floats! Has unimaginable at one point. Over the course of four decades, Stephen King has become THE name in horror fiction, with his earlier books considered the modern classics of the genre while every new release is seemingly met with critical and commercial success that toppled the previous ones. It might not even be a stretch to say that King may very well be the most successful author IT Ends! IT… of our time, regardless of the genre. His foray into movies, however, does leave a certain something to be desired. Sure, he did attain a fair amount of success with projects like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green mile. But for every one of those home runs, there is a counter-argument with cinematic drivel such as Cell, The Langoliers, Gerald’s Game, and Sleepwalkers. The fact Underwhelms! of the matter is that while King is, for lack of a better word, the A review of IT Chapter Two by Ahmed Zayani King in his own domain, translating his work into another medium has proven to be problematic at times. Some of this, as is the case with projects like Maximum Overdrive and Sleepwalkers, can be attributed to the author himself, but in most situations, it’s a clash of vision between the source and those attempting to translate his work into another medium, thereby adding truth to the notion that you can have too many cooks in the kitchen. Directed once again by Andy Muschietti, IT Chapter Two is the sequel and closer to 2017’s gargantuan hit IT. The film follows the hapless band of misfits known as The Losers who must band together once again and return to their hometown of Derry Maine EVERYONE IS A when the entity they’ve come to know as Pennywise resurfaces once more after twenty-seven years of dormancy. When the first WINNER chapter hit the scenes two years back, every one seemingly went With Weekender gaga over this new iteration; finally, the masses had a new horror icon to latch onto in a film that hit every nostalgic tone seemingly possible . I personally did not buy into the hype and had originally WIN Two dismissed the film. It was only after a couple of rewatches that I began to Movie appreciate the film and see that the hype was all well-earned. I found myself keen on revisiting this world again and with every bit of news that came out tickets! regarding the production, the interest grew. I was fortunate enough to attend an Send your answers and your picture to early screening of the movie on Tuesday night at Cinepolis, and I could not wait [email protected] to lose myself for the next couple of hours. When the lights came up, however, I was befuddled; I knew I had enjoyed the movie, but there were a few things about 4Let us know in one sentence: What it that kept me from loving it. First off, I have to hail the casting of this movie as does the leading weekly of Bahrain it is impeccable. Leading the charge is James McAvoy who is coming hot on the ‘Weekender’ mean to you? heels of his phenomenal performance in Glass (thus far my favorite of 2019), and once again he has shown us why he is one of the finest actors working today with unbelievable range and tons of charisma. Equally as impressive was Jessica Chastain who has been every fan’s dream casting for the role of Bev Win Two since Chapter One’s credits drew to a close. Here Chastain gives us a nuanced Optics and multilayered performance as the troubled red hair that goes a long way in redeeming herself after the performance in Dark Phoenix. The big surprise here is Vouchers! Bill Hader in the role of Richie who steals scene after scene in his first foray into Ehsan Optics care for your precious the horror genre. The rest of the cast is rounded off by Isaiah Mustapha, Jay Ryan, eyes and are offering you a 10 BD and James Ransone who all give solid outings. Then we have Bill Skarsgard as voucher which you can spend on everyone’s favorite dancing clown Pennywise. While I will stand firmly with the whatever you like! notion that he has yet to top Tim Curry’s blood-curdling performance in the 1990’s miniseries, Skarsgard is, for all intents and purposes, a revelation in the role and 4What’s the one emoticon you can’t has made it his own, its just a shame that the scare factor has been tones down to nothing more than cheap jump scares. The narrative presented here follows do without? (see page 09) the book quite closely with the friends seeing the bond they made twenty-seven years prior come to fruition, and while the events unfolding were interesting at two hours and forty-five minutes the film did drag on quite a bit. By comparison, both Avengers Endgame and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood had equal runtimes however they still felt like a breeze to sit through rather than a chore as was the Win Two 34 case here. A good twenty to thirty minutes could have been excised from this movie, and it would’ve been all the better for it. Another thing that this film tried to tickets to do was explore the backstory of the titular entity further, which, in my opinion, did the film a disservice. I’ve always believed in the notion that we are more afraid of Adhari park! things that we don’t know much nor understand, and when you try to put logic into that notion, you take away from its dread factor. This was the case here as I felt Win an exciting day with a friend in one the movie overexposed Pennywise’s history while, oddly enough, downplaying his of the most joyful parks in Bahrain. evil nature in the present-day scenes. All you have to do is solve the riddle Watch the trailer: below and send your entry to win@ All in all, IT Chapter Two was not the monumental series closer that I thought it weekender.bh Favorite Stephen King Films would be, nor did it live up to the first chapter. Time will tell if this movie will grow 4How many months have 28 days? 1. Inglorious Basterds on me like its predecessor did, however, it does not seem likely. Still, if you are 2. Pulp Fiction a horror hound keen on catching an entertaining movie with solid performances, then you can do much better than this. 3. Kill Bill Vol. 1 4. Django Unchained Verdict – 6.5/10. 5. The Hateful Eight Want to win 2 Karting Tickets from a very popular venue? 4Share in less than 100 words - what is the one thing you wish Bahrain had and why? Win Beauty Care Vouchers Get yourself pampered and look flawless with the best beauty treatment and products. Win yourself 2 exciting vouchers from the very popular ‘German Skin Care’. 4___________ is the movie reviewed this week. (See Page 10) 4___________ is one of the movies releasing this week. (See Page 10) Win Bowling Tickets Ensure a great weekend by winning two bowling vouchers for one of the best alleys in town. Simply share with us what your favourite segment in Weekender is, and the one thing you’ll like to see in your favourite weekly. Send your answers to [email protected].

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