Review of It (2017) by Chris W — 29 Sep 2017

I will be honest, I was that person that when I heard that 'IT' was getting a reboot movie version of the Stephen King classic that I enjoyed; I was on the fence about it completely. Honestly after Tim Curry's 1990 TV adaptation of the novel which was by and large a pretty decent if not good mini-series sure the acting in the movie at the time was......uh.....questionable? We did get a good serious version of John Ritter (RIP Jack) somewhat in it. But years gone by and then we heard rumors of a Reboot of the novel and of course I didn't think it would work cause in an age of reboots it became a hit (JJ Abrams Star Trek) or a HUGE miss (Poltergeist...they made a reboot of it!).

And now 'IT' (Chapter one) graced the screen as well as digital media. The question remains....is it actually good and is it actually scary and the answers are Yes and not really!

'IT' Follows the group of kids known as The Losers Club as they deal with a series of missing and/or murdered children going on around their sleepy little town of Derry, Maine. Every 27 yrs a creature shows up and not only blankets the town and people in to make them believe its not real or act like nothing has happen but takes these children and feed off of their fear. When the Losers find out about this, they must work together to combat this evil and put it away for good but its not an easy task when you are taking on something that knows your fear and looks like a creepy ass clown to boot.

The Good:

Director Andy Muschietti, had his hands full when making a movie based off the the semi-controversial novel with the same name; and he did a very good job in recreating the coming of age and the hint of horror in subtle ways that even though the novel which hits strongly on racism, misogyny, and strong sexual overtones the director had to strongly tone it down so it can at least keep the 'R-Rating'; But with the strong intro that doesn't shy away 10 mins in at least you know what to expect from this movie.

The meat and strength of this movie falls around the Children but this can also be a flaw considering certain kids in this movie have some limelight and others are kinda pushed into the background but we will get to that.

My favorite of the cast is Richie Tozier (Played by "Stranger Things" Star Finn Wolfhard) his Character does not shy away from the frank and raunchy humor that his counter part in the mini-series DOES NOT show and it was good for it; but all in all the children in this film give off the better performances and it feels like that true coming of age in the likes of films such as 'Stand by me' its not overly done and its perfectly suited to match wits against the likes of Pennywise the clown (Played by 'Hemlock Grove' Star Bill Skarsgard).

I honestly didn't think Bill could do it. Take it a step up from Tim Curry's beloved role as Pennywise but I will be the one to say he did a exceptional job as the Clown I never thought of Bill as a method actor but he did give off a creepy take of the dancing clown and much like the kids in this film it does work as well. Also the change of years from keeping things out of 1950s and moving it up to 1980 was also very interesting you get a lot of Easter eggs of popular movies and video games at the time it felt nice to see them when you can (especially the ORIGINAL Street Fighter). Also, the antagonist Henry Bowers (Played by Nicholas Hamilton) was a VERY complex and creepy psychopath in this film. Honestly, if they taken out Pennywise and focused on just Henry I think we might have a slasher horror and honestly I wouldn't even blink an eye to the notion.

BTW i'm glad they did NOT put THAT infamous scene from the novel into the movie its better for it (if you read the novel you know exactly what i'm talking about!).

The Bad:

This film is NOT scary, it has some interesting jump scare moments and creepy ways of using the dark in some scenes but its not at all as bit scary as many would say it is. Bill Skarsgard was great as pennywise and the first 10 mins of the movie speaks volumes at how creepy it can get; the problem is that it wasn't utilized. And for an "R" rated movie you can actually take those liberties to make it as bloody and creepy as you want without going all crazy. Andy Muschietti, made certain changes to two particular characters backstory mainly Mike and Ben its very small changes but I would have rather have mike as the person who's doing the research and Ben just being.....well, Ben!

Which leads me to my next issue, some characters are not really the focal point of this movie; Bill, Richie, Beverly, and sometimes Ben are the focal characters of the losers....Mike, Eddie, and Stan are mostly relegated as the side characters and while they sometimes get their chance to shine it doesn't help the fact that they are still pushed to the background while others get the foreground and if hindsight was 20/20 the director could have tried to place equal time for majority of the characters. Pennnywise while he does get ample time in it just didn't push the boundaries of tense nor scary. While we have films like The Conjuring, Insidious which knows how to make a scene tense and making you think one thing and doesn't provide the jump scares cause they know how to creep you out without the jump moments. This movie relies too much on that which is a plus and a minus against it; I personally just felt that you can make a scene tense and creepy at the same time and make other scenes bloody and gory if you can without over pushing the R-rating but that's just me.

Overall (End Result):

For a movie that plays it safe I can still recommend 'IT' to anyone who didn't see this movie; Its funny, at times endearing, creepy to a degree and a very good coming of age film. Bill's take on Pennywise was worth the price of admission and I hope chapter two can explore a much more darker pull no punches take of this clown. The kids of this film brings a mixture of Stranger things and the Goonies while still keeping the semi-horror aspect without trying to go overboard. But the film is not at all scary, some interesting jump scares and creepy moments as well as some characters get more limelight than others you still have a movie while it won't creep out the majority of adults it might scare the kids (but why would you want to bring kids to see this after all!?) 'IT' is an overall fun and emotional journey from childhood to adulthood without being controversial and I think this movie was placed in the right hands with the right director.....

If only "The Dark Tower" had that same care in direction which it did not! Just saying.