It (2017)

Georgie Denbrough was last seen peering into a storm drain and disappeared, never to be seen again. His family is in tatters over his presumed death, leaving his older brother Bill without support. Bill is the only one convinced Georgie might still be alive or at least has hope to recover his body. The summer after Georgie's disappearance, he gathers his friends brash Richie Tozier, hypochondriac Eddie Kasprak, and shy Stan Uris to search for him themselves, running into violent bullies, horrific visions and creatures, apathetic adults, new friends, and Pennywise the Dancing Clown, an enigmatic and horrific creature, along the way.

It is undeniably a huge success, breaking box offices records left and right and sparking a renewed interest in Stephen King film adaptations. Many aspects of the film impress with their innovation and ability to surprise, including child actors, the nightmarish tableaux, and Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise. The Losers Club are actual children who mostly talk like kids would talk. The best writing and performances are in Bill, Bev, Ben, and Eddie. Their worst fears are realized in unexpected ways. I thought I knew what the slide show scene would be based on the trailers, but it was the best surprise of the film. All of these scenes feel dreamlike and the CGI is used to enhance that feeling. The strength of the film is having childhood fears hold real danger Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise takes a different approach than Tim Curry in the 90's version. Both have their merits and Skarsgard's stands on its own with his barely concealed rage at the children. He drools consistently while he speaks, giving a sense that something is off kilter even when he tries to lure them in and perhaps showing his true hunger.

Other parts of the film aren't as successful, even failing where the book did not, mostly with establishing the Losers Club, in the portrayals of Bev and Mike, and in Pennywise's powerset. The children didn't do a lot of fun things over the course of the film due to Bill's singleminded drive to find Georgie. In the book, they built a dam and flooded the sewere system, built a safe haven, and just talked to each other much more. A lot of the dialogue felt taken over by Richie's tasteless jokes, which were far too numerous. A few would have been fine and it became annoying. There wasn't any reason why they fought so hard for each other because the later additions, namely Ben, Bev, and Mike, seemed to have little reason to do so. The group didn't feel like friends, let alone a group that would fight to the death for each other.

Bev's portrayal wasn't great in the book, but it's worlds better than film. In a very awkward scene, her underwear clad body is ogled by the camera and the boys in the Losers Club alike, which is disturbing considering her age. The boys make total sense, but there's no justification in the camera lingering over a young teen's body. The boys are also in their underwear, but aren't objectified as Bev is. Her role as integral to beating It with her marksman skill is ignored and she's reduce to a damsel in distress, bait for Bill to come and save with no agency. Mike, on the other hand, had a rich story in the book as a librarian and a connection to the town's deep history of racism. All that is ignored in favor of an underdeveloped backstory about his family's slaughterhouse. His character barely makes an impact and his librarian role is given to Ben, who had a perfectly good role as engineer. It doesn't make sense and proves much more troubling than his role in the book.

Pennywise's powerset makes no sense at all. He has the power to become anything he wants and eats children like they're candy. The gory opening scene with Georgie is excellent in establishing danger and showing that these kids are in real danger. Unfortunately, this doesn't hold true for the whole film. The filmmakers make Pennywise too much like Freddy Krueger in that he is powerless if you don't fear him. It's utterly ridiculous especially with the tools at his disposal and make it seem like a poorly reasoned way to keep the main characters safe. The book is much better in that regard where the children's faith in their weapons led to his demise. The final confrontation between the Losers Club and Pennywise disappointed despite the creative visuals of his tower of artifacts with his victims literally floating around it.

While it's a resounding success, I find It to be a flawed movie that amazingly failed where the equally flawed book succeeded. The children, scares, and Pennywise are all well constructed and acted, but they ultimately disappoint. The children have no reason to fight for each other. The scares and Pennywise have no bite. I'm still going to watch the second film, but the children's story was always more compelling. I think it will be even more of a disappointment unless significant changes are made.

My rating: 2.5/5 fishmuffins