It (2017 Stephen King film)

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

I read this book sometime around the late 80's. I think I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time. It was the first time I read a long Stephen King book, and I loved it. I didn't see the original mini series until sometime in jr. high. As a kid, that mini series creeped me out, but it's pretty tame today since it was made for TV.

Tim Curry did an amazing job considering the TV censorship restrictions and budget he was under. But I have to hand it to Bill Skarsgard for nailing his portrayal of Pennywise (with the help of some amazing make up and special effects).

The one problem I have with this film is that Pennywise is hardly in the first hour except for the opening scene and a few teases here and there. I get that they had to develop the kids' characters, but, to be honest, I didn't care that much about the kids in the first hour. Their acting was fine. I don't know why, but I wasn't as invested in these kids as I was in, say, the kids in Stranger Things.

However, when Pennywise does appear, the kids do a great job in acting terrified and in ultimately banding together to fight Pennywise. The movie picks up a lot after the first hour, and I loved the last 40 minutes or so.

I also loved the lead bully who actually had a pretty big part. To be honest, I don't remember too much about the book since I haven't read it since the late 80's. I don't remember if this bully was this prominent in the book, but he played a great secondary villain.

The final showdown with Pennywise was easily a 10/10. I'd rate the first hour of the movie about a 7/10 (higher in the moments when Pennywise appears).

Overall, I'd give the film a 9/10. This is easily better than the TV mini series, but, again, that's due to no fault of Tim Curry who did an amazing job under TV restrictions. This movie definitely has some balls in going to some dark places and in showing the brutality done to various people.

 

[Vastator]

Having seen the made for TV original, and only trailers for the new release... I was completely underwhelmed by the new pennywise. To the point where I'll wait for it to be available on Amazon video to even bother watching.

 

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

Having seen the made for TV original, and only trailers for the new release... I was completely underwhelmed by the new pennywise. To the point where I'll wait for it to be available on Amazon video to even bother watching.

I can understand that. I was a bit surprised when I saw the first photo released of the new Pennywise a long time ago. But the more I looked at it, the more I appreciated the fact that they were going for something different.

What kept me interested was the fact that it was going to be directed by Cary Fukunaga who directed the first season of True Detective. He ended up not directing the movie, but he still got co-writing credits for the screenplay, and the final 30 minutes or so did remind me of the finale of True Detective season 1 in terms of awesomeness.

This Pennywise is really terrifying at times. There was maybe 1 scene where I didn't buy it when he was talking, but I thought he did an amazing job the rest of the time.

Also, there are definitely some minor changes/tweaks here and there compared to the book, and, IMO, all of those changes/tweaks only enhanced the story. I read that Stephen King was agreeable to the changes and even liked them as well.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Watching it now. A good movie but in no way would I consider this horror. A tale of growing up perhaps.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I used to enjoy King's stuff until he vehemently interjected politics into the mix. I won't even buy his books at the used bookstore, thanks, let alone pay money to see a hollyweird depiction of his scribbling.

 

[theHawk]

I used to enjoy King's stuff until he vehemently interjected politics into the mix. I won't even buy his books at the used bookstore, thanks, let alone pay money to see a hollyweird depiction of his scribbling.

Actually the moral of this story was excellent and right on point.

In the movie, the little black boy gets lectured by his grandfather. They are at a farm/slaughterhouse of sheep. The grandfather tells the boy that you can either be a sheep and get stuck in the head someday, or you can do something about it.

The movie may seem too dark, with it having kids getting killed, but that is exactly the point. There are people out there that target innocent people, even little kids, and kill them. Most people are too scared to acknowledge whatever “it” is.

Pretty relevant in today’s world where Islamic terrorists randomly murder innocent people, and yet the masses of people do nothing about it and continue to mill around like sheep, hoping they won’t be the ones to get slaughtered.

Once the kids ban together and face the threat, it’s almost laughable how easily it’s destroyed. Which again, is exactly the point. If we just bothered to stand up together against “it”, the threat would cease to exist. Instead, most are paralyzed by fear. Again, very relevant to what is going on in the world today.