"YOU'LL FLOAT TOO..."
"When children begin to go missing in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids is faced with their greatest fears when they square off against and an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back centuries."
SHORT VERSION
"IT" is a great movie. Enjoyable even as it is horrifying, the film is an excellent dive into fear of both the supernatural and the common. Led by a cast of excellent actors, this is a horror film that is hitting as many cylinders as it can to scare you. You’ll want to float down with this film.
LONG VERSION:
So I’ve never read the Stephen King book and I haven’t watched the miniseries “IT” since it came out in 1990, though it seems to be on all the time on Spike TV. I wanted to go as unfettered with comparisons as much as possible when seeing the movie.
"IT" is a great movie. Enjoyable even as it is horrifying, dealing with fears we have as kids, made real in ways both supernatural and common. The connection with the “Losers” both as a group and individually give the film the strength that many horror films lack.
Director Andy Muschietti and screenwriters Cary Fukunaga Chase Palmer Gary Dauberman (along with some additional writing work by the director) have done an excellent job of setting up the small town world of Derry, ME. The blue skies and puffy clouds in the flying shots across the town give a sense of a calm and peaceful world, outside of the rest of the world’s problems. Yet in plain, sun-drenched, sight also hides the darkness that lives there. I’m not talking about just Pennywise.
Right from the loss of Georgie, there is complicity by adults in the town as to what Pennywise has been doing. Whether it is simply turning a blind eye or actively participating, Derry is not unaware of the Evil that is happening. This adds to the unsettling feeling throughout the movie.
"IT" is the feeling that comes across as you meet “The Losers” individually, and see why they come together. In their world, their peers are only there to torture them physically and mentally, and the adults can’t or won’t help. As the audience, you connect with them because, simply, there is no one else to trust. Again, this constant fear in their life is even before we’re dealing with Pennywise.
The camaraderie and empathy you feel for these kids (I’m sure everyone has a favorite; mine’s Ben) is what is missing in so many horror films today. They aren’t targets for the next ingenious death by the Villain/writer. These kids are the reminders of who you were at that age. So, if you don’t connect with them, you don’t care about their fates. That seems to be lost in a great many movies, no matter the genre. Not so here.
While the characters started life from author Stephen King, then re-written by the screenwriters, it is the actors that do a tremendous job here, doing the “heavy lifting” to keep you interested and involved. Jaeden Lieberher (Bill), Sophia Lillis (Bev), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben), Finn Wolfhard (Ritchie), Chosen Jacobs (Mike), Jack Dylan Grazer(Eddie), and Wyatt Oleff (Stanley) are all doing outstanding work in this film. Whether on their own or as ensemble, they all make it look so easy. When they all come together for the “Apocalyptic Rock War”, there was exhilaration I felt watching them fight back. They had found themselves, and their strength as a group. It was cathartic for so long of them trying to get by alone. That’s the power of their work that makes the film work so well here.
The thing I do remember about the miniseries was the creepy work of Tim Curry as Pennywise. His work there left an indelible image of this creature on the minds of a generation of fans. Bill Skarsgård steps up in this movie and makes Pennywise his own. He brings a level of charm and impishness that lets you understand why children would get close enough to be taken. Then in a turn of scene, the malevolence comes forward to make you understand how scary he would be to confront in person. As the all-too human villain, bully Henry Bowers, Nicholas Hamilton also does excellent, menace here. He is the kind of horror we’ve all dealt with in one form or another.
I have a minor problem with the use of some turned-up volume for the scares, as it something I think is too easy to get an audience to jump over a genuine scare. That being said, the initial attack on Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott ) was quite striking and sets you up quite early that this movie is NOT playing around. This is not about being a blood soaked gore-fest… except when it needs to be! As is the way of Pennywise, It is about Fear.
To forewarn those that are fans of the miniseries and/or the book, It is not the full story. We start in 1989 and we end there. Yes, there’s enough there to set up another, concluding movie. This story is complete.
While nothing is official, if you look at the box-office numbers of opening weekend, I think you’ll hear about the next movie going forward quite quickly.
I don’t think Pennywise is done with scaring audiences just yet.
