Movie Review
Review: It
Horror Done Right
It is a movie distributed by Warner Bros., adapted from a famous Stephen King novel by Andre Muschietti, and stars Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Bill Skarsgard, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott.
Synopsis: Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine, are about to face their worst nightmare — an ancient, shape-shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey on the town’s children. Banding together over the course of one horrifying summer, the friends must overcome their own personal fears to battle the murderous, bloodthirsty clown known as Pennywise.
The Good
It is a movie that relies on the strength of its young characters to carry this film, and casting director Rich Delia is on point. I loved the members of The Loser’s Club right from their first scene together. When you have a cast full of kid actors, it is at times difficult to be critical of their performances, and thankfully I don’t have to be with this movie. The chemistry and energy that each of these kids brings to their performances were near perfect, and the writing for them was entirely believable. These boys talk and act exactly like you would expect them to; sorry Mom but 11–13 year old me would fit right in with the Loser’s Club, probably more as a Ben, but I’m sure there is a BuzzFeed quiz that will help me be certain. That genuinely unapologetic perspective is one of the elements of It that helped sell me on the Losers.
The group initially is comprised of Bill, the stuttering leader of the group; Richie, the smart ass, wise cracking know it all. Then there’s Eddie, the hypochondriac who is quick to let everyone know which germ/illness/plant is likely to kill them in any situation; and Stanley, a skeptical Rabbi’s son who is prepping for his bar mitzvah. The story gradually initiates Ben, the new kid who loves the library, is bookish, a bit of a writer, and provides information to help the story along (you see I am definitely like Ben); and Mike who I’m pretty sure is the only black kid in town, and is a bit of a loner. Nothing however up ends the Loser’s world as much as when Bev joins the group. She accompanies the Loser’s Club to escape her rough home life and quickly becomes the backbone of the team providing confidence and courage that the boys rally behind. Ben and Bill quickly fall in love with her, and I enjoyed the way the movie follows the sweet, but all too often awkwardness that arises from these relationships. Finn Wolfhard, who plays Richie and is most recognizable from Netflix’s Stranger Things, steals so many of the scenes he is in playing a brash and hilarious character that provides It with some much-needed humor.
It could not be a success without a strong performance from Bill Skarsgard, and again this is a win for the film because Skarsgard is SO GOOD as Pennywise. He is menacing right from the opening scene of It when he coaxes Georgie, Bills younger brother, to his demise. Pennywise is creepy in this movie, from his odd jerky movements to his early 20th century drab clown garb, even the way his voice is eerily high and gravelly; this character is something to fear. He appears to each of the Loser’s in turn throughout the movie as the thing they fear most, scaring them beyond belief before reverting to his clown character.
Another interesting item of note in It is that all of the adults, ALL of them, are complete assholes. Lending to the phrase in King’s book, “the adults are the real monsters,” every grown-up in this film is portrayed as either drunk, cruel or manipulative. It becomes beholden on the kids to right the wrong in their small town, which seems like a secret everyone over 27 seems to be in on but does nothing about. There are countless scenes in It where the adults are completely failing the children in this town. It makes me kind of wonder how the sequel, which is already in the works and chronicles the other half of King’s book, will portray our full grown Loser’s.
The Bad
I really do not have a lot of issues with It, in fact, I would say that the first 30–45 minutes of this film are flawless. As I’ve said on more than one occasion, no movie is perfect, and I do have two minor things about this film that nagged at me a little bit. First, being an ’80’s kid, I felt like Derry didn’t really feel like a late ’80’s town. Some things were right on, like the video games, and movie marquees, but some elements were off. For instance, the bikes the kids rode were not typical 1980’s bikes, and no kid in the 1980’s would have named his bike ’Silver’ (as in “Hi Ho Silver!”). Although I did appreciate the studio deciding to update the timeline from the 1950’s to the 1980’s, some things like the bikes (because they rode them through like 40% of the movie) seemed to me to be carry over’s, at least in style, from the book.
My second issue with It is that for all the talk of “You’ll float too” both in the movie and in the advertising, they never go into a lot of depth with this concept in the film. You’re not ever quite certain what the significance is for it, or how Pennywise does it; it’s an element of the movie that is glossed over.
The Verdict
It is a great horror movie that knows how to tell a compelling, frightening story without ever getting too sadistic or relying on gore. This movie is also balanced really well with an entertaining, funny coming of age subplot that offers a respite between scares. Muschietti has done a fantastic job adapting Stephen King’s original novel, and the casting is flawless. All of these elements create an engaging movie that I think is going to become a classic horror movie and a formula that I could see being replicated. Every would be horror filmmaker should take note of this movie, a film that did not rely on jump scares and gore, because for it’s genre It is nearly perfect. If you guys enjoy being mildly scared and love a great coming of age story, take it from a guy who routinely hates horror movies because he enjoys sleeping at night, and go see this.
That’s how I’m calling this one, but I’d like to know what do you guys think? Did you see It? Am I spot on, or out of my mind? Let me know in the comments below. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. As always thanks for reading, and I’ll see you at the movies.
