Average but worth a watch

Rating: 6/10 (9 September 2017)

A solid 6
I was so looking forward to this movie. We have waited a long time for it (27yrs) I wanted not to be disappointed but....it was all just very average.
Before I continue I want to make it clear the love I have for the original TV mini series. It was on repeat in my house as a child and I feel nothing but nostalgia (and fear) when I think of it or watch it. So to see this new version miss out on some of the vitals that made the original so special was disappointing.
Things I didn't like. The kids were not innocent or naive enough. The original story took place in 1960 when of course it was a more innocent time. This was lost in this new film as it was set in 1989. The constant babbling between the boys was really annoying and pointless to the story. When the kids were all experiencing their individual encounters with Pennywise there was zero structure with no purpose or history to their encounter. The kids were flakey, they didn't have the strong individual personalities needed to make them distinguishable. The second part to the mini series heavily relied on us caring about the kids in the first half then continuing their stories as adults and how their lives had panned out since leaving Derry. In the 2017 remake the only ones I cared about was Bill, Beverly and Ben the others just blurred into one character. Too much cgi!! Poor and not scary! Most disappointing was the cgi encounters that were not Pennywise e.g. the lady in the painting, the headless man in the library and the zombie creature outside the derelict house. Why even bother it was done so badly. I also never really got the feeling from this film of how wrong and bad things are in Derry I felt this was skirted over a little. And last but not least a lot of the scenes with Pennywise I couldn't help but notice his contacts (eyes) or whatever they used for his eyes were in wrong so took away from the experience of fear as I was too busy wondering what was wrong with his eyes! And no mention of dead lights anywhere :(
Things I did like. Most of the scenes with Pennywise packed a punch and were frightening. I liked how they linked the famous phrase 'they all float down here' to a visual in the end scenes. I liked the creepy chemist character and Mr Marsh, to me they represented Derry and all that was wrong with it. Bill, Ben and Beverly all great and well developed characters. Good humour throughout and it was used at correct times in film.
Bad out ways the good unfortunately but I do think this film has done well in continuing the clown fear legacy!