I have to disagree as I thought it was a lesser film in every way. I've not seen or read any other iteration of IT and I tend to avoid horror films in general as I usually dislike them but I was dragged to Chapter one and ended up really enjoying it. Didn't have any enjoyment with this film
I think the biggest factor was the characters. Felt the bond was strong between all of the kids in the first as you got to know them but in chapter two it seemed too broken up to form any connection with any of them
The story was far more focused in the first and that allowed the interaction Pennywise's had with the kids to be more terrifying whereas with the second I didn't feel much of a sense dread from him
And even though some of the CGI'd creatures looked the same, or similar, to the first (as I said in a previous comment) there were segments where I wasn't sure if I was meant to be scared or laughing at what was produced. I actually think there may have been more bits that were meant to be funny than there were of horror and this mixture of tones damaged the overall film
But it'd be boring if we all thought the same way. As an outside to the franchise/material, this just wasn't for me