It (2017)

NO SPOILERS SO FEEL FREE TO READ!

*I feel like I’m stating the obvious but if you aren’t a fan of clowns I suggest you don’t watch this film*

SO LET’S DIG IN!

I came in with high hopes for this remake after reading that Stephen King himself approved this film and I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed. This new adaptation of It delivered the perfect amount of scares and laughs that had people laughing one second to jumping the next. Director Andy Muschietti (Mama), took the momentum of 80s nostalgia that last year’s Stranger Things brought and used it perfectly to tell the story of the kids from “The Losers Club” and their fight against the infamous Pennywise the clown.

Fun fact: It’s been 27 years since the mini-series was released. For those of you that don’t know, “It” emerges from the shadows every 27 years so it’s great timing for this film’s release. 

First things first let’s discuss the cast. The cast was brilliant. Each character really stood out on their own but if I had to pick I would say Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) as Richie stood out the most. He brought great comedic relief even during the most scary scenes. He’s also involved in what I believe to be the scariest scene of the film so keep an eye out for it. The actors genuinely appear to be very close with each other. I definitely got a Stand by Me (1986) vibe from this coming of age story.  The film starts off slow with each character encountering “It” by themselves and it isn’t until the whole cast gets together that we finally progress in the story. This is where the real fun begins.

What really makes this film great is the portrayal of Pennywise by Bill Skarsgård. Pennywise in short is superb. I know there will be many arguing that Tim Curry as the original Pennywise was better but I believe Skarsgård brought a different approach to the dancing clown and gave it a brand new persona. 

The character is disgusting, horrendous, terrifying, and creepy as hell all while enjoying himself and having fun in his own way. Even though I was excited to see Will Poulter (We’re the Millers) portray Pennywise when Cary Fukunaga was set to direct, I am very pleased with what Skarsgård has done with “It.”

The film isn’t perfect. It has its flaws like depending on many horror tropes and clichés but it does this in a way that actually works with the score and the lighting of the film so it isn’t all that bad. Another flaw was in the special effects. While some were really great, others weren’t and that took some of the horror out of scenes that could have been truly terrifying. The ending itself is also somewhat weak compared to previous scenes in the film. The film was at its best when it didn’t rely too heavily on CGI and just depended on Skarsgård. For the next film I hope he gets more lines and screen time! 

Overall It is probably my favorite horror film in recent years. It’s also the best Stephen King adaptation for a horror film in my opinion aside from The Shining (Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile don’t count since they’re not considered horror). But lately everything that has been coming out of the horror genre involves James Wan in some way so this was a fresh breather from the Insidious extended universe. If you were expecting a film with jump-scares and extremely loud music to cue the horror scenes then this isn’t for you. If you actually enjoy good cinematography and a well-developed plot with good acting then I encourage you to watch it, maybe you’ll float too.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought of the film.