Here is my review of IT that I posted in the Movies sub-forum after seeing it last night...
IT, which is based on the 1986 Stephen King novel, tells the story of a terrifying shape-shifting monster that lurks in the sewers beneath Derry, a seemingly idyllic small town in Maine, and often takes the form of a clown as it preys on children by exploiting their inner fears. Seven misfit kids, all of whom are all battling their own everyday demons, eventually band together when they realize that the clown creature who has been stalking each of them separately is responsible for the many child disappearances in the town and that the adults in the town are strangely oblivious to the menace. The "Losers' Club" consists of an overweight boy who is new to the town, a nerdy wisecracking boy, a frail boy who is controlled by his hypochondriac mother, a black boy who feels like an outsider in the community, a Jewish boy, an outcast girl who lives with her sexually-abusive father, and a stuttering boy who cannot put the pieces back together with his parents months after his own little brother was dragged into the sewer while playing with a paper boat during a rainstorm. As these preteen characters unite during the summer of 1989, they all come of age in their own distinct ways as they prepare to face the ultimate horror.
Most of my favorite scenes in IT, like my favorite passages from the novel, are the ones where these kids are simply being kids. They goof around town on their bicycles, they go cliff-diving into a river, they constantly bombard one another with hilariously crude and profane juvenile insults, they hide away from the rest of the town in a wooded area near the sewer system outlets, and they take up for one another at just the right moments. Those of you who enjoy films like Stand by Me or The Goonies are in for a real treat. Since I was an outsider apart from the most popular kids during my own childhood, these scenes brought a smile to my face as I remembered my own experiences of befriending other "uncool" kids and having wildly fun times with them inside our own tightly-knit social circle while the entire rest of the world could just go straight to Hell. There is a real beauty to the way that this film conveys the resilience of children to trauma. These kids come face-to-face with a terrible monster during encounters that would drive adults to insanity, but they are having carefree good times around their neighborhoods the next day as though nothing happened.
When I first read the novel just after it was published over 30 years ago, my favorite character and my personal hero was Ben Hanscom, the overweight kid who was constantly bullied by others, but, when push came to shove, showed remarkable courage and charisma. I was a fat kid myself, and I was often bullied because of my weight and because of my lazy eye in my right eye, so reading about the character of Ben was almost like seeing a reflection of myself in a story, and I was inspired by his adventures. I am pleased and grateful that Ben, played by Jeremy Ray Taylor in this new film adaptation, comes across in a wonderful way that is faithful to the literary character. The portrayal of Beverly Marsh by actress Sophia Lillis is a revelation as well, and her interactions with both Ben and the stuttering Bill Denbrough, played excellently by Jaeden Lieberher, provide the movie's most reverberating moments. One of the many impressive things about IT is that the movie is so accurate with regard to capturing that often comically awkward time in preteen life when we go through the transition from playing and rough-housing with the opposite sex to becoming attracted to the opposite sex in a more adult way. The character of Richie Tozier, with his thick glasses and his never-ending jokes, is brought to life with perfection by actor Finn Wolfhard. All seven of the child actors, in fact, are given plenty of time to shine with their own unique styles, and they all pull their dramatic weight in a way that seems effortless.
Of course, wistful childhood nostalgia aside, IT is, first and foremost, a horror movie, and an unnervingly gruesome movie. During the opening sequence, which faithfully recreates the one in the novel, we see poor little Georgie Denbrough's arm ripped off by the clown after he reaches into the storm drain for his paper boat. The cinematic depiction of children being placed in harm's way or in mortal danger has long been a taboo in Hollywood, and, as such, it's always a shock to see horrible things happening to kids in this movie, even when we know what is coming. The 1990 television miniseries adaptation pales in comparison to the visceral scares that we see in this new version.
Bill Skarsgård's portrayal of Pennywise the Clown is outstanding, and he brilliantly captures the sadistic mannerisms of the literary character. If you have an irrational fear of clowns, then be forewarned that this movie will definitely not cure you of that phobia. IT makes liberal use of digital effects during the Pennywise scenes, but even the most obtrusive examples of computer animation come across well for the purposes of this film, since so much of the story involves the notion of characters seeing incredible things that they cannot believe are actually real.
IT takes many liberties with the storyline in the King novel, and those who are expecting a note-by-note faithful rendering of the novel may be disappointed, but I am of the opinion that this cinematic retelling captures the actual spirit of the book in a way that the 1990 miniseries could never match. Unlike the novel, which interweaved the stories of the childhood Losers' Club with the stories of their respective adult selves who return to Derry to fight the creature, this new film version solely focuses on the characters as children, and the 135-minute run time allows for plenty of breathing room to flesh out the story of these children. Without revealing overt spoilers, I'll say that IT concludes in a way that provides closure, but also in a way that paves a path for a hopeful second movie that will feature the adult Losers' Club.
The decision of the filmmakers to change the era of the childhood Losers' Club characters from 1958 to 1989 is a stroke of genius, not only because it resonates with those of us who grew up during the 1980s, but because it is also awesomely reminiscent of glorious 1980s horror movies, like The Lost Boys, Fright Night, or An American Werewolf in London, that managed to be both scary and fun. The ease with which IT brings the fun back into the horror genre, which has taken itself too seriously in recent decades, is a welcome surprise, and the end result, like those 1980s classics, has infinite rewatchability potential. I will be seeing this film again before it leaves theaters, and it will definitely belong to my Blu-ray collection in a few months.
I loved watching these kids in the Losers' Club come together to fight Pennywise, and, although this is a long movie, I kept hoping that it would never end. In a way, IT is a lot like the real world. There is violence, hate, brutality, insecurity, and horror, but there is also fun, laughter, love, camaraderie, and courage. This is a tremendous film.
Looks like this may be one of the first non exclusive steelbooks that Warner Bros. is doing? Justice League The New Frontier is also getting one through Amazon. Maybe it is an Amazon exclusive?
Looks like this may be one of the first non exclusive steelbooks that Warner Bros. is doing? Justice League The New Frontier is also getting one through Amazon. Maybe it is an Amazon exclusive?
I hope not. I can see all the damaged steelbooks now....
Hopefully it'll be sold in stores like Best Buy aswell.
Didn't say anything about it being an exclusive. Obviously it's not since Amazon is selling it. I'm just saying I hope stores will have this on shelves aswell. Best Buy, Target...etc.
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It (2017)
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