It (2017)
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It Movie Review
It is a 2017 horror film directed by Andy Muschietti and based on the titular novel written by Stephen King. It is a fantastic movie.
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“This isn’t real enough for you, Billy?
I’m not real enough for you?“
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Yes, the hype is absolutely real and then some with this one. I could not believe how great this movie is, honestly it is an instant classic. So I was looking forward to it a lot having in mind that I am a tremendous fan of the source material which is one of my ten favorite books for sure. This film is so faithful for the most part that I adored it.
This film is very creepy and scary. That is one of its problems as it is very much a modern horror movie with a classic story, but with a full-on execution meaning that scares come and go pretty much non-stop which at times meant that it felt forced and just too much. I would have liked to have seen less action to be honest.
However, that action and those scares are just marvelous. They are actually fantastic from beginning to end. I absolutely adored all of them and they really felt serious, dark and honestly scary. This film is real horror unlike countless other horror films and it can genuinely frighten, disturb or at least unsettle you. I was honestly unsettled throughout the whole runtime and I always felt danger while watching it and you just never get a moment to breathe here.
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Violence toward children is genuinely the worst crime there is. And yes, the film went there and some scenes were too much in my opinion. I am talking about the girl with her torso ripped in half and of course the scene with Georgie’s death was unfortunate. I really disliked that scene which was done much better in the original 1990 version. They did not need to go there as it is already an iconic scene and the gore was awful and unnecessary. I was disturbed, but that also may be the point here. They felt the need to show how horrible Pennywise truly is so that we as the audience realize the danger the kids are in and I get that, but still that was excessive to me.
But apart from that scene and the sink scene which employed a lot of blood, the film usually stayed away from gore and it mostly focused on real scares including some jump scares, but mostly just the lines from the clown were creepy and especially his movements, transformations and facial expressions. The house scene is one of my favorites as it employed getting separated trope superbly for once and of course the entire final battle was absolutely amazing.
Let’s talk about the characters. It is based on the greatest Stephen King novel and the characters here are his creations and he is the one responsible for their greatness, realness and complexities. However, the film is so well adapted and faithfully that I also give the credit to the writer and the director in adapting all of them so wonderfully to the big screen.
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Bill is one of those Harry Potter-like protagonists. He is a regular hero, but his ark is so stupendous as is his willingness to save his younger brother that he still remains one of the film’s best characters. A character that is usually boring, but was here so well developed and terrific.
Pennywise is excellent. The two clowns from this version and the previous one are different but are actually both great. The previous one looked better as this one was too CGI, but this version is definitely creepier mostly because they employed so perfectly his childlike way of talking which was very creepy. Many lines of his dialogue were just so scary. And what I also loved about him is his development. He is portrayed so well here that you see why he needs to feed on children and their fear because otherwise he would starve to death. The portrayal of a hungry, frustrated, endangered animal was quite fascinating.
Ben is interesting as the only fat character here and he brought a lot of heart to this film. Yes, they took his library knowledge from Mike and thus Mike ended up being less developed. But still I really liked Mike as he was very brave and the strongest kid in this group and his confrontation with Henry Bowers was just awesome. As for Ben, I really liked him and how he became the part of this gang. And of course the triangle between him, Bill and Beverly is one of the best triangles I’ve witnessed and it is also great here.
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Speaking of her, I loved how they teased her for looking pretty much like Molly Ringwald. That was an awesome reference as it not only hints on the resemblances between these two, but also the inherent resemblance between this film and those 80s teen movies from Hughes both stylistically and character-wise. I loved Beverly. She was one of my favorites here as she stole the show quite a lot from the boys and I loved that she was the bravest one along with Bill. The film is sexual at times, but mostly realistically so and even though she is sexy and the boys look at her all the time which is realistic, she is also badass and they are still for the most part friends and such a phenomenal team.
Of course her relationship with her predatory father was tragic to witness and he truly is the biggest villain in the movie after Pennywise as he was honestly very scary and disturbing but in a more real way and that juxtaposition of real and fantastical scares worked tremendously in favor of the movie. I would go so far to say that the clown may function as a metaphor, as a projection of each of their parents as each one of their parents is either abusive or distant and something is off with every one of them. A very interesting theme that was hinted upon here.
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Speaking of abusive parents, I really enjoyed Eddie. His relationship with his abusive mother is very well explored and I loved how well he was established and his coping with this placebo issue was so well executed. He is to me the most likable kid out of them all, I loved him. Richie is definitely annoying with his sexual, immature humor, but again his scene where he decided to help his friend was one of the standouts here, so fantastic! Stanley was also very well developed, complex and his troubled relationship with Bill is so well hinted here. And of course Henry Bowers is phenomenal as this leader bully and how Pennywise used him was terrific too.
It’s final scene with the agreement and the hand holding was absolutely beautiful and it almost brought me to tears. The movie is so incredibly emotional, stupendously so for a horror film. It is frequently moving and consistently heartwarming and at times even funny mostly because of those kids. Yes, these actors are amazing. The characters were superbly written and the script is phenomenal across the board, but they would not work had there not been for these talented kids who knocked this one out of the park. Every one of them gave a phenomenal performance with the highlights being Jaeden Lieberher and Sophia Lillis who were absolutely amazing in very complex and difficult roles.
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It features a timeless tale of friendship and how these children’s bravery and sticking to the group and willingness to resolve this horror themselves as the adults are helpless. The story is beautifully crafted and the film is long, but incredibly entertaining from beginning to end. Even though it relies a lot on the action and scares, it finds just enough time for proper characterization and storytelling, not to mention emotional investment, and that is what makes it a future classic and one of King’s finest cinematic adaptations.
Technically speaking, the direction should have been better. Andy Muschietti did a good job, do not get me wrong. But a more skilled director would have made this a masterpiece. But the score is great and the cinematography is excellent, not to mention the attention to detail as it recreated the late eighties superbly with hairstyles and clothing. Stylistically and thematically speaking, this is very much a teen movie, but a horror one at its core and one of the best horror films of all time.
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The hype is real. It is a fantastic cinematic achievement! This is a very scary, disturbing and unsettling movie that sometimes was too gory, but the non-stop scares really exhaust you and you are constantly on the edge. The danger and the terror is palpable. But the story is phenomenal and so faithfully, beautifully adapted from its majestic source material and the film is frequently touching and incredibly moving with a lot of unforgettable scenes. The characters are awesome, all so well developed and they work as a team so well not just because the script is great, but mostly because these young actors absolutely killed it in their roles and every one of them was magnificent. They share a great chemistry and dynamic. So the film is not only very scary, but also filled with a great attention to detail and so well filmed, highly emotional and with excellent character development and storytelling. It is an instant classic and one of the best horror films of all time.
