As was the case with its predecessor, this one is a mixed bag. There's certainly things to like. John Lithgow is great as Jud. He doesn't have that iconic drawl, but he turns in a strong performance that stands as one of the film's more memorable strengths. The nod to his role as Winston Churchill was also an amusing nod.
Similarly, Jete Laurence works really well as Ellie. Her increased screen time does telegraph the "big twist" that she's the one who ends up dying, but she really comes off as a nice, sweet kid. You grow to like her a lot and it makes her death scene one of the film's more powerful moments (and rightly so.)
Sadly, like Gage before her, her turn as villain ends up falling a bit flat. That first scene after she comes back is when she is at her creepiest. Her cold, lack of emotion stands in stark contrast to her previous persona and it is awesomely eerie. She also gets some great dialogue as Louis tries to put her to bed.
However, as she gets increasingly angry and violent, her performance falls more flat. I wouldn't say it's "bad" exactly, but it doesn't have any kick to it.
Similarly, the film's horror is heavily reliant on jump scares as well as various visions and hallucinations to try to drum up some tension and atmosphere. Some of them work but it was overdone in my opinion. You could argue that it was the Wendigo engaging in some psychological warfare (which the revenants here do, not to mention that it was quite the chessmaster in the original novel) but a lot of times it just seems forced in for the sake of some spookiness.
I thought that the thing with the kids wearing the masks was going to fall into that category, but it is put to better use in the climax. Similarly, the movie is quite successful at building that tension and dread at several other points throughout the movie, so it is hardly a total bust on that front.
Jason Clarke is more emotionally versatile than his predecessor, but unfortunately, we don't see as much of a benefit. As Lilja's Library noted in its own review of the film, we don't see a whole lot of that anguish that would come from the sudden loss of a child. It's only a matter of minutes in terms of screen time before Louis is digging up his daughter's corpse to bring her back. Yeah, you as the viewer can put two and two together, and we do see them sad, but it still feels a bit rushed.
I'm not sure how you dwell on that without it feeling like padding, but seeing him trying to come to terms with it and failing probably would have helped things a little.
On a completely random note, I read on TvTropes that, just like with "Cujo", the crew had a hard time trying to get the animals to act mean or vicious. They were just too friendly and wanted to nuzzle and cuddle the cast instead. It's both funny and adorable. I love it.
Overall, I'd say this is worth checking out. It has its problems, but the strong cast and capable production make up for it. It is also much closer to the book, bringing in a lot of the mythos that was absent from the first adaptation. There were changes too, no doubt, but I think fans of the book will appreciate the greater devotion to the source material.
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