Before becoming such an aficionado of Stephen King’s
literary works, I still had knowledge of his writings and knew the connection
he had of books-to-film as far back as I can remember. From the first adaptation of Brian De Palma’s
Carrie in 1976 and all through the first part of the 80s, I’d recognized
Stephen King as a writer of horror fiction, but never dove into his books until
my senior year of high school. Finally
being curious about what was so special about this author, I’d borrowed my
brother’s paperback of “It” and dove into it, all the while worried about the
size of the book (I’d made sure to check out the page-count and was a little
perplexed to see it was over 1,100 pages long…longer than any book I had read
in that period of my life). Within the
first chapter, however, I found I couldn’t put it down and was completely taken
into another world—another city and another time, in fact—to the made-up small
town of Derry in Stephen King’s home state of Maine.
I don’t know how long it took to get through it—it didn’t
feel that long, it felt like too short of a time—but I was amazed, and a bit
saddened, by the time I’d finished it.
Amazed at the imagination King had put down on paper and saddened
because I’d come to the end of that great story. To this day, whenever anyone asks or talks
about his catalog of stories, I cite Stephen King’s “It” to be my favorite of
all his books.
Some few years later, in 1990, a television event was
broadcast—“Stephen King’s It”—which was a bit disappointing, since TV movies
had its limits compared to a theatrical release. But the film had—and still has—its merits,
particularly the first half of the film, so it’s still enjoyable to watch. However, the terrifying aspects and the
wondrous descriptions of the creature were missing from the film, so it left
me—as well as a lot of other Stephen King fans—a little flat.
Now, here we are, 27 years later (that number definitely has
some significance if you’ve read the novel), and Stephen King’s “It” gets the
theatrical treatment, with no holds barred and all the R-ratedness you can
stand. Going through a few years of
developmental hell—some interchangeable director selections and an adjustment
of casts—it was finally announced that Andy Muschietti was hired on as
director. Having a couple of foreign
films under his belt, he finally had gained some recognition for his American film,
Mama, in 2013. But I have to
admit, it was a little worrisome to hear that Muschietti, a relatively unknown
director, was given the reins to such a high-profile horror film.
So…what did I think?
Let’s break down the plot first…
A group of bullied kids—Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher),
Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), Richie Tozier
(Finn Wolfhard), Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan
Grazer), and Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff)—calling themselves The Losers Club,
band together when a monster, taking the appearance of a clown named Pennywise
(Bill Skarsgård), begins hunting children.
As a teenager, just starting to devote my life to the
fantastic world of Stephen King novels, reading this book was terrific and I’d
always imagined the goings-on in the story as a possible movie. One of the first monster encounters described
in the book is when the character of Georgie Denbrough (played by Jackson
Robert Scott in this new adaptation) is taken as Pennywise’s victim. It’s horrific and viscerally described, which
led me to believe a movie would never show a scene as shocking as what I’d
read. Now, in 2017, it finally had come
to fruition just as I’d read it in 1986 and it was as scary and shocking as I’d
imagined it to be. It was at this point
of the movie that I’d known…this flick was going to be fantastic.
Coming in to work the next day, speaking to my coworkers
about my experience, some of them had shown their distaste of horror
movies—either not enjoying the idea of being scared or just not wanting to see
disturbing images on screen. To them, I
mentioned that It would be just as great of a film if they were to take out
all of the scary parts—even omitting the scenes featuring Bill Skarsgård as
Pennywise. The interaction and overall
acting displayed by this young group of children was amazing and so
entertaining. The dialogue shared by all
of them flowed so smoothly, you really felt like they had been friends forever,
nothing feeling forced or fake.
For me, the standout of the ensemble was Jack Dylan Grazer
playing the character of Eddie Kaspbrak.
Remembering the book, the character wasn’t really that much of an important part of the story, but the professionalism and performance displayed by this young man
were really felt. He had quite few funny
moments, especially between him and Finn Wolfhard (playing Richie Tozier, who,
understandably, stole the movie with his constant quips and dirty jokes).
For a horror film, you’d think there wouldn’t be too much
emotion felt, but there were quite a few moments nevertheless. You experience this, even in the trailer
before the movie was released, between the brothers Bill and Georgie, as the
older brother makes his younger one a paper sailboat to play with out in the
flooded gutters of the neighborhood street.
Even in the later scenes where you’re not sure if Bill is really seeing
his little brother or if it’s a forced vision that Pennywise had created, it’s
heartbreaking at times.
Now, let’s talk about Pennywise…
Although the TV movie back in 1990 was pretty tame, it can
be agreed by most that the performance of Tim Curry as Pennywise was what made
that flick watchable. The makeup and
outfit, complete with his menacing performance, will always have a place in
Stephen King fans’ hearts. So to have a
new actor donning the clown shoes must’ve been a bit worrying for all
involved. However, rest-assured, the
moment we see Skarsgård for the first time, enticing Georgie Denbrough to reach
for his sailboat that fell down into the sewer, we’re in—all in. The bulbous head, the grease-painted face,
and the tufts of orange-red hair…it’s both terrifying (as most clowns tend to
be, regardless of what the World Clown Association may think) and friendly,
oddly enough. Skarsgård goes from a hilarious
giggle-inducing caricature to a menacing fiend in an instant, definitely
sending shivers down your spine with his glowing eyes and sinister smile. Although he doesn’t have much screen time,
when Pennywise shows up, it usually scares the hell out of you.
If I can point out a minor weak aspect of the film, it’s
probably just the absence of some character development. But that’s to be expected in a film with such
a big cast, there’s just not enough time to tell everybody’s story. The important thing to see in this film is
that these children band together and do what’s necessary to fight the evil
bestowed upon their town, and to do it as loving friends—that definitely shows.
I really wish I can go on and talk about some of the scenes
that were entertaining and memorable, but I don’t want to spoil too much of
it…it just needs to be seen and felt without knowing much about the story. Instead, I’ll just give you my final “bit” on
It...
A brilliant movie, filmed so well, showing us the innocence
of the time between these young kids, yet tragic to observe what they go
through. The cast is perfect, making me
wonder how they’re going to top this in the sequel—in the book, the first half
is all about the kids, while the second half is how they all return 27 years
later as adults—so I have to wonder who they’re going to cast as the adult
versions of this awesome group of friends.
I can’t help but compare this to the 1990 television movie, because the
first half was excellent while the second half wasn’t as good. All in all, it’s not too often when I’m
willing to see a movie for a second time during its theatrical run, but it’s
pretty rare when I want to go right back into the theater to see it again right
after watching it. Whether you’re horror
fan or not, if you love movies like Stand
By Me or The Goonies, then you’ll
love It…go
see it!
Thanks for reading!
