AsianTrumpSupporter
Platinum Member
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.
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