Review of It (2017) by Thequietgamer — 11 Sep 2017

By being bold enough to really capture the grotesque violence and child endangerment of the source material, "IT" manages to stand out from the horror pack by having an extra dose of darkness and brutality. It pulls very few punches. Something all too rare and actually very surprising for such a mainstream horror flick. I applaud director Andrés Muschietti for having the integrity to do so. Lord knows he could have toned everything down and still made plenty of money at the box-office simply on the name alone. The actual scares in the film are of the funhouse variety. It's big-thrills, large and flashy, and almost rapid fire. While there's a great little atmosphere to things, it doesn't change the fact that IT simply isn't very frightening. Instead it's more exciting and outright fun to watch Pennywise torment the kids. As a result I was able to deal with the fact that I wasn't exactly quaking in my boots. There's also the fact that the movie has such a great, memorable villain. One portrayed excellently by Bill Skarsgård. If they nail the sequel I have no doubt Pennywise will finally be held to same level of respect as Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Jason Vorhees by becoming one of the iconic horror villain icons in the mind of just about every horror fan, and not just he clued in. Heck, this movie might even be enough to do that on it's own.

The real strength of the movie is in it's characters and story. Both of which are brimming with heart and humor. More so than we usually see from this genre. It's about friendship, facing your fears, and is funnier than most comedies. It's a blood-soaked coming of age tale that's done rather believably (given the premise) in just about every area. There is even a nice amount of fidelity to the source material and the new stuff fits right in.

There is a little something missing from the movie however. Some of the book's core themes didn't make the cut. We never really get to see the effects IT has on the town as a whole. How everybody seems to ignore what's going on, such as the adults turning blind eyes to acts of cruelty that regularly occur between the kids. I also found a little bit of a problem with the movie's depiction of Henry Bowers.We don't get to see his transformation from regular bully to legitimately dangerous psychopath. He's just homicidal from the get go and there's no context as to why he is so aggressive towards Ben Hanscom in the way that he is. Another complaint is that the movie doesn't do much with Mike Hanlon. He's the only member of the Loser's Club who feels left out for the majority of the film.

While not without it's flaws, IT is still very much a triumph. With a stellar cast of genuinely teenage actors (the standouts being Wolfhard and Lillis), strong writing, entertainingly brutal thrills and a great sense of humor, IT is an all around great time at the movies. IT also stands as a satisfying adaptation of a Stephen King work. The most satisfying in quite a long time. IT easily stands amongst the top of the pack in terms of that. As a huge fan of the book I was quite entertained. I had a blast and highly recommend giving it a shot. Even if you haven't read the book, it's still just a really good horror movie in it's own rights.