Sadly it is not very effective

Rating: 6/10 (8 November 2017)

IT is an adaptation of Stephen King's 1986 horror novel of the same name. It is a story of a group of friends in a small town who are terrorized by the eponymous entity who is in the form of a clown and the subsequent attempt of the group to fight that being and uncover a mystery. Being a horror movie it has some good terrifying scenes and twist and turns but at the core it is a movie about friendship. While it is not exactly a Magnum Opus, it's not a bad movie either. The main theme of the story is Friendship and what it means to have a good friend. From the very beginning of the movie, every character is shown as different and meek and hence is constant source of bullying. They find solace with each other and form a gang called loser's club and enjoy each other's company.The subsequent growth of the character and defeating their deepest fear is depicted nicely.
The another main theme of the movie is quashing your fear. It is clearly shown that the entity feeds on the fear of an individual. Hence to defend themselves or to defeat him they need to vanquish their fears. While watching movie, it was clearly evident that the movie is less of a horror and is more of a coming-of-age tale where characters by various means conquer their fears and learn more about their identity via a series of misadventures and learn about meaning of life, friendship, love, sexuality, loss and fear. So lets talk about pros. and cons. of the movie and what is my personal opinion after watching this movie.
PROS.
Performance of the cast - I really loved the performance of the cast. Everyone was suitable and acted well in their roles but the cast member which stood out for me is Sophia Lillis. I really liked her performance. The way in which she essayed the role of a sexually abused teen is seriously commendable. Other cast member like Jack Dylan Grazer, Jaeden Lieberher and Jeremy Ray Taylor were excellent in their respective roles.Their chemistry was endearing and organic. Another stand out role for me was that of Nicholas Hamilton. He really performed well in the role of a mentally troubled young sociopath.
Musical score - Music of the film was quite good and matched consummately with the theme of the movie. The background score was also quite good which helped in intensifying the fear at some critical moments during the film.
Well developed characters - The characters in the film are well written and developed which is a rare feat for a horror movie. The reason of every character's inherent fear is explained well. That's why characters feel so authentic while watching movie.
Screenplay - IT is a rare horror film where so much effort has been put in writing. Screenplay is commendable.
Cinematography - Cinematography of the film completely reflects the mood of the film be it the happy time with friends or be it the haunting wall of the entity. The camera accurately captures the tone of film and which in turn makes the movie more terror-stricken.
CONS.
Over reliance on Jump Scares - While the source material provides excellent opportunity to delve into the psychology of characters, the makers seemed to ignore it. While it could have been an excellent psychological horror film but due to excess reliance on jump scares it turns into an another run-of-the-mill horror film. This movie can be sighted as a prime example of why jump scare sucks? I was really disappointed due to the lack of genuinely frightening scenes in place of sleazy jump scares.
Muddled storytelling - Storytelling could have been far more better. Some scene jumps from one to another without any proper motive or meaning. Also the film takes too long to build.
Runtime - The film really test the patience of viewers too much during the film. The film could easily have been shortened by up to 15-20 minutes. 2nd half drags too much especially during overly long climax.
Performance of Bill Skarsgard - This might be a controversial opinion but i really didn't like performance of eponymous character. While Bill tried his level best, it was evident that during some scenes he was trying a bit too much which was really unaffecting for me. The more he came to screen, the less menacing he became.
Average direction - While the direction was not bad, it was not good either. Considering the fact that you have a great source material and a well written screenplay, you need to add some extra score points to the movie by using your direction. Instead of focusing on psychological aspects of the story, he focuses more on terrifying audiences with music and the clown, but after a certain point it all starts to fall flat. I am not exactly condemning direction but i am not impressed either by the endeavors of Andy Muschietti.
So, in the end its another run-of-the-mill horror film despite having a great story.