It (2017) Movie Review

It (2017)

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Written by: Chase Palmer & Cary Joji Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman (screenplay by), Stephen King (based on the novel by)
Directed by: Andy Muschietti
Starring:  Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Owen Teague
Rated: R
Watch the trailer 

Plot
A group of bullied kids band together when a shape shifting monster, taking the appearance of a clown, begins hunting children.

Verdict
This was a really good movie, not just good for horror but legitimately good. I didn't expect that. It captures nostalgia and the coming of age teen genre, but the conflict isn't someone moving away, unrequited love, or school bullies, it was a demented devil clown. This took time to develop the characters, and while there are plenty of jump scares, the solid foundation of the movie prevented it from feeling cheap. Sometimes remakes can be really good.
Watch it.

Review
From the opening this is good looking movie. Starting with an overcast sky, the colors are dim and gray. The next scene is Georgie afraid of the basement, and a few scenes later he's talking to a clown in a storm drain. The shadows are great. We can just barely make out Pennywise's face but his eyes glow bright. Georgie meets a gruesome demise and that's the introduction to this movie.

It's set in the '80s and really pushes that nostalgia. A group of misfits end up banding together to fight the clown. The mood feels authentic from awkward high school crushes to the way the children banter and make fun of each other. With seven kids, that's at least two too many. They aren't all developed equally, the movie just doesn't have the time and we wouldn't have the patience.

At thirty minutes in I was impressed. It's not just good for a horror movie which are typically lower budget, this was a good movie. It's well paced, providing some nice moments for the characters. Bill insists on helping Beverly clean her bathroom that's coated from floor to ceiling in blood. It's a moment that pushes the potential crush triangle between Bill, Ben, and Beverly.

The adults are creepy. Beverly's dad is given serious child molester cues. One of the kid's moms is feeding him placebo pills. I'm amazed the group of bullies that torture the town hasn't been arrested. They do some heinous stuff. I wondered if this was going to twist the bully into doing good or show that he's really a coward. It does develop his story a little bit, but you don't feel any sympathy for him.

This has plenty of jump scares, but it is effective. In a lot of movies that feels cheap, but it never did in this. I was surprised at how good this is. It mixes teen drama and a coming of age story with horror. It's that drama that drives this. The mix of genres makes this unique. It's more than a cheap remake but more than the usual high school romance story.