"It Chapter Two": Pennywise is back in a fitting follow-up — but is that a good thing?

"It Chapter Two" gave me "Avengers: Endgame" flashbacks. Picking up where 2017's "It" left off, "Chapter Two" — again directed by Andy Muschietti — tells the story of seven adults who have suppressed traumatic memories from their childhoods in the fictional town of Derry, Maine. These aren't the only story glitches in "It Chapter Two," which too often falls into the horror-movie trap of characters who do things no one with a functioning sense of self-preservation instinct would actually do. Where the parallels between "It Chapter Two" and "Avengers: Endgame" are positive: When it comes to the main qualities genre fans will want, it definitely delivers. Just as important, Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman make the story feel like an epic payoff to years and years of character development, a feat that is particularly impressive when you consider that "It Chapter Two" only follows up one movie and "Avengers: Endgame" had 21 previous films to work off of.