If you’re looking to scream and spill popcorn, It: Chapter Two might very well be the horrifying rollercoaster you’ve always wanted. But if you’re looking for a worthy follow-up to the previous It, a film with satisfying drama amidst all the bloodletting, you might be in for a little disappointment. Andy Muschietti’s film is entertaining and full of shocking scares but it doesn’t make nearly as much of an emotional impact as the first half. I guess bonkers mythologizing, a flashback structure that shortchanges every character, and jokes that defuse way too much of the tension can do that sometimes.

It’s been 27 years since The Losers’ Club defeated Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård) in his lair beneath Derry, ME. They’ve all grown up and, mostly, moved on with their lives. Bill (James McAvoy) writes successful horror novels and overcame his stutter. Richie (Bill Hader) became a successful stand-up comedian. Eddie (James Ransone) is still a nervous wreck, but he’s channeled that anxiety into a successful insurance career. Ben (Jay Ryan) is a successful architect, but his reclusiveness suggests he never completely overcame his shyness. Stanley (Andy Bean) is happily domestic. Beverly (Jessica Chastain) is wealthy but, sadly, also suffers in an abusive relationship.

Only Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) stayed behind in Derry, and only Mike actually remembers their childhood confrontation with the demon clown Pennywise. So when Pennywise returns for his once-in-a-generation feeding frenzy, Mike calls in The Losers’ Club to make good on their promise to finish the beast once and for all. Now they’ll all have to confront their childhood trauma, bring back repressed memories, and overcome their adult fears in order to save the town, and themselves, from the personification of fear itself.

Unfortunately, in order to do that, they have to take part in a strange ritual that – in a plot point so arbitrary they practically treat it like a Scooby-Doo episode – forces the gang to split up and experience episodic flashbacks to their youths. Each of these scenes features memorable, likable performances from the young actors (some of whom look a little airbrushed, having been de-aged via CGI), and many of the scares in those scenes are scary as hell. Or at least, they would be if we didn’t already know they’ll be fine and they’re going to defeat Pennywise (temporarily) by the end of that summer. The flashbacks reveal almost nothing new about most of the characters, and exist only to set up MacGuffins that could easily have been introduced in the previous film, but weren’t, for not very interesting reasons.

Those flashbacks and Mike’s research into the origin of Pennywise, as well as the strange revelations that came with it, take up so much of It: Chapter Two that the meat of the story never gets fully cooked. The adult versions of The Losers only have a quick introductory scene apiece to demonstrate who they’ve become, and then they revert to their childlike states so quickly that there doesn’t seem to be much contrast anymore. It plays less like adults confronting their childhood trauma and more like adults taking a sightseeing tour of their childhood town, remembering a few bad things and then trying to beat up a clown again.

It’s a shame The Losers can’t spend more time together, or that so many of their scenes involve repeated explanations of the plot or remembering extended sequences starring the younger actors instead. The adult cast is killing it. McAvoy transitions from inner strength to tragic weakness as believably as any actor, and watching him grin and bear it when everyone tells him the endings to his books suck is always funny. Chastain wears Bev’s suffering like a weighted shroud, so it’s a thrill to see it lift whenever the banter begins. Ransone is a note-perfect update of Jack Dylan Grazer, Ryan is a mottled ball of confidence and doubts, Mustafa is wonderfully weary as Mike, and Hader’s humor barely masks a life lived in extreme terror. Hader stands out, and damn near steals the film, but even so, it’s one of the most impressive horror ensembles you’re ever likely to find.

Muschietti’s film struggles to evolve from a childhood fever dream into something contemporary and immediate. Even the scares, many of them constructed with the eery intensity we’ve come to expect from Muschietti, often conclude with a funny little joke. Most of the humor in It: Chapter One sprang from the characters interacting with one another. It: Chapter Two has more of a horror-comedy vibe, full of puking demon gags and self-aware winks to the audience, which makes the film less immersive, and showier.

Of course, many of the problems with It: Chapter Two are inherent to the source material but in this case, faithfulness isn’t always a virtue. The second half of the story is just too scattershot and expository and, in the end, a little too cartoonish to have the same overwhelming emotional effect as the previous It. The structure is a hindrance, relying on childhood memories that are treated like they’re super important now but which, apparently, weren’t relevant enough to include in the first film. They often play like a selection of (mostly scary) deleted scenes instead of like valuable contributions to the second half of a narrative.

It’s easy to get distracted by all the things that don’t quite work in It: Chapter Two (including some that cannot be mentioned for spoiler reasons), but perhaps the original set the bar too high. So it isn’t as good as It: Chapter One. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good time. The filmmakers have assembled a cornucopia of nightmare fuel, or at least a heck of a lot of amazing jump scares, and they’ve set them all in a row to get knocked over, domino-style. You won’t be bored. There’s too much insanity for that.

For all its flaws, It: Chapter Two is an exhilarating example of horror filmmakers getting all the free reign they could possibly want, from top-flight visual effects to a nearly three-hour running time to major stars to truly grotesque violence. The whole film is going damn near overboard, for better and worse. It’s easy to admire Muschietti’s film for its excess and imagination. It’s easy to watch and enjoy it as a fright flick. It’s just harder to connect with the adult versions of these characters than it should be, and it’s harder to take this story seriously than it was before.