It (2017)
*** (out of 4)
A small town has a strange history with various disasters that strike every twenty-seven years and more times than not it's children that are harmed. One summer a group of friends realize that they are all being stalked by the vision of a sinister clown known as Pennywise. They soon realize that if they don't try to kill it then he will kill them one by one.
Stephen King's IT was originally made for television in 1990 and it was a hugely successful film that scared the crap out of people. The film had all sorts of hype going into it and it actually lived up to it. The film carried on a cult following for years and then news broke that a new adaptation was coming. This film really try to create the same type of hype and it ended up being a massive box office hit. People were eating it up and it's easy to see why. With that said, as much as I loved certain parts of it there's no question that there are some major flaws as well.
The great stuff includes the drama aspect of the story. The real terror comes from the bullying, the girl's sexual abuse by her father, the blame you place on yourself for your brother's death and of course there's the building of friendships that kids do during the summer. All of this is perfectly done and director Andy Muschietti does a wonderful job with the development of the characters. He also does a terrific job at capturing the mood and setting of a small town. The 1988/89 settings were perfectly captured and you can sit there and feel that you're in a real town with real characters.
All of the performances by the kids are simply wonderful with Sophia Lillis and Jeremy Ray Taylor really standing out. The adult performances are just as great even though they're all basically small supporting roles. Tehn there's Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise. I thought the actor was terrific in the park and I enjoyed how much more sinister this clown was. I also loved the line delivery and thought the actor was terrific at bringing this character to the screen.
With that said, there are some major, major flaws that pretty much kill the horror elements of the film and that's the CGI. The CGI effects are so fake looking that I couldn't help but be taken out of the drama that was going on. This isn't a Marvel movie or some sort of fantasy. Why build up the setting so much just to throw it all away with cheap effects? And I ask you this.... Was this CGI, fake looking clown that rushes towards the camera or floats around really as creepy as the actor and his make-up? Why they had to throw these cheap, fake looking effects is anyone's guess but it really hurts the film.
Overall, I'd say that the original was better but there's still a lot of great stuff here. It's really too bad that there really aren't any scares due to the fake looking effects and it's even worse that everything was there for a much better movie. As it stands, IT is good but not a classic.
