A spectacular adaptation

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2018)

Stephen King doesn't really translate well to the big screen. Too much surrealism, too much locked into the head of characters (including important plot points). To sum it up, too much creativity required to adapt his writing to film. This movie has all the creativity, and it's a true delight.
The best novel adaptations can keep the merits of their source material, yet surprise even those who read the original novel. I have read It at least five times, but this movie was able to surprise even me with some really clever choices.

Rewritten character backgrounds (Henry Bowers, Beverly Marsh and Mike Hanlon)
The main characters search for the missing kids instead of playing randomly around the town
Main plot points changed, sometimes completely (the death of Patrick Hockstetter, the addition of the extra scary projector scene)
Skip of the silver bullet. Thank you. It may have worked in 1986, but in 2017, after Underworld and Ginger Snaps, it would have ruined the entire movie.

Although the adaptation process, I have to admit it, did damage the overall story a bit. The change of focus on the main characters resulted in Mike and Stan ending up completely forgettable characters. Ben being a really smart kid also got skipped with the omission of the dam building scene from the book, where he shined his talent of mechanics and architecture (also with leaving the silver bullet stuff out completely). Beverly and Eddie profit the most from the changes (especially Beverly, with the greatly increased tragedy factor in her backstory). The most damage comes to Richie. This Richie Tozier feels really out of place, like edited in from a separate movie. No matter how good chemistry he has with the rest of the Losers, especially with Eddie, not even this can save the likeability he had in the novel (and in the previous film). Writing him as such a coward doesn't help either, especially with a hypochondriac kid standing next to him.
Some changes in the plot also backfire near the end. Most changes work (like skipping the Ritual of Chud, which is impossible to visualize in a way it makes any sense), but the kidnap of Bev feels cheap and illogical from the part of Pennywise. The wake-up kiss and the cliche 'let's argue and split up before reuniting with the climax' scene are also like from a much worse flick. I'm also curious about the thoughts behind the famous Pennywise dance.
What works in this movie, however, works perfectly. The writing is supported by excellent acting from everyone (especially Bill Skarsgard, but all the kids are also doing really professional jobs, with Sophia Lillis and Nicholas Hamilton as my number one favorites). The only issue is with the music, which is too loud for the scary scenes, and other times doesn't really fit the events we see ('80s cheery song when cleaning a bathroom totally painted with blood? Really?). The visuals are, however, top notch material, the movie is a treasure to see, except for some short moments of lesser quality CGI in the climax. Pennywise has a perfect design, and the scares are visually very creative, especially the painted woman and the transformations of It in the final fight. The use of the balloons as tools of revealing something really messed up is also a really smart idea.
I'm curious about Chapter 2, as it will need some huge changes as well (with the death of Henry Bowers, although he felt quite forced in the original, and Mike, who will be prominent, being so forgettable). As the 'Adults' storyline is also weaker in the book, it will be a much greater challenge, the Stand By Me recipe won't work for that one. This, however, is a crew I feel I can trust after this movie, so I'm positive to the end about the sequel.
Overall, it's a top quality flick, giving back some much needed dignity to King adaptations which they mostly lost after The Shining. It omits some key elements (like the power of a child's imagination used as a weapon), but adds a much needed boost to both King films and the horror genre in general, by perfectly grasping the truly fearsome aspects behind the concept of It.
If you like horror movies, you should watch it.
If you recently lost your faith in them, you MUST.