Stephen King’s “It” 2017 movie review
Contains no spoilers
Stephen King’s “It” 2017 movie review
IT tells the story of “The Losers’ Club,” seven children whose seemingly wonderful summer break in 1989 is marred by the unexplainable disappearance of young people throughout their small town of Derry, Maine. The group of youngsters would rather not have to deal with the horror closing in around them, but they cannot flee the increasingly graphic visions of their greatest fears. Those fears are being brought to life by gleeful nightmare clown Pennywise, played disturbingly well by Bill Skarsgård, who at times is alluring, and at times is your worst clown nightmare.
Eventually, The Losers Club takes up arms against this truly terrifying monster, but the group of youngsters is first and foremost children. They’re all completely compelling and believable in their roles. Muschietti understands the sometimes talkative ridiculousness of childhood relationships and lets his young cast relish the screenplay’s snappy, exact, dialogue. As they explore the sewer system in search of a missing younger brother this creates opportunities for each to showcase their different approaches in dealing with problems. Each of the young boys acts differently towards the new found friend of the young girl Beverly whether it be confused, shy, or suspicious. Muschietti leaves out the weirdest things these kids do in the book. If you’ve read it, you know what I’m talking about. Yikes.
These child actors are up to the challenge, creating memorable characters who could have easily carried a movie that didn’t have a monster. Their smack talk hardly hides their individual worries about growing up, or pubescent physical changes, or entering a big, scary world that will force them to face their fears, whether or not a clown is involved.
Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise shows up only sparingly, and that’s a clever choice. It’s a strong performance, and the clown is a worthy successor to all the great scary clowns in movie history. But if Pennywise were to spend too much time on the screen, he’d be too tangible, too much of this world. He’s at his most frightening when he’s in the shadows or on the periphery, holding his balloons and licking his chops and saying, “You’ll float too.”
“IT” comes to a conclusion on just the right series of notes. Chilling, heartbreaking, exciting, sobering. We’re told at the end what we already know: This is but Chapter One of the saga. When we pick up the story, it’ll be more than a quarter-century later, and these wonderful kids will be adults in their 40s.
In the meantime, we have “IT,” which carried me along from the opening frame, rarely missing a beat.
Origin: USA
Released: 2017
Directed by: Andy Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard
Watch the trailer for 2017 “It”
By Ken Warren, 2017
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