Floats Above the Original

Rating: 8/10 (19 September 2017)

In the first 10 minutes of the remake of Stephen King's "It", I was taken aback by how much more violent and graphic it was than its 1990 predecessor. I recalled a creepy yet campy made-for-TV movie that was ultimately forgettable were it not for the spectacularly unsettling performance by Tim Curry in the title role. I initially attributed this upswing in gore to the Hollywood trend of remakes, dial it up to 11 and hope for the best. It didn't take long for me to see that there was something more at work here. As the familiar story ticked on I realized that this movie isn't for those who are being introduced to the story for the first time. It's for those, of my generation, who knew that the evil of "IT" was waiting its obligatory 27 years to reemerge and scare the hell out of us again as adults.
In the small town of Derry Maine, big brother Bill is paper folding the ill-fated SS. Georgie on his bed. Little brother Georgie scampers in to take his toy boat out to the rainy gutters of the neighborhood. Bill and Georgie have an unrealistically precious relationship. Georgie is literally too cute to live. As the little tike chases the makeshift sail-boat down the street, it becomes clear that the swollen $35 million budget was put to good use. From the original, we know Georgie's floating destiny, but how he arrives there is a red flag for the extremes we can expect for the 135 run-time. Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) looks nothing like the Bozo interpretation by Curry. More like a mix between John Wayne Gacy and John Leguizamo from Spawn. The only real acting Skarsgard gets to do is in those creepy few minutes, menacingly gawking out of that gutter. The rest of Pennywise's appearances are too heavily CGI'd to require an actor. Most of the character's appearances are relegated to creepy waving and jump- scares. This might sound disappointing if Pennywise's only manifestation was as a clown.
More than the terror of this ever-morphing entity, the town of Derry itself is a certain type of hell for children. There are sadistic bullies that would be showing mercy by simply punching you in the face. There are no adults in the traditional sense as they are all guilty of apathy, predatory hungers, or just being former bullies who now own small businesses. The 7 protagonist children have nowhere to turn when their personal nightmares starting coming to life. Bill has lost his brother the year before with parents who have all but moved on. Beverly is becoming a woman in a home where her single father's loving touch is completely unwelcome. Mike, the home-schooled slaughterhouse worker, may have the most traumatizing past which is only briefly capitalized on. That brevity might have been a good idea considering how it would clash hard with the tongue-in-cheek humor that makes most of the horror palatable. The other members of the group, Richie, Ben, Eddie, and Stanley have their own triggers but they don't stem from trauma At least not yet.
Pennywise gets a disappointing amount of dialogue, but it is made up for by our 7 heroes, self-dubbed The Losers. Richie (Finn Wolfhard of "Stranger Things" notoriety) is particularly hilarious with one- liners that would kill in any Apatow flick. The others are given depth of character through realistic interpersonal relationships and convincingly fitting into the late 80's aesthetic. Their world is a terrifying fantasy, but the nostalgia is refreshingly real.
With the reverence that the creators of IT have shown the material, I was surprised to find the small catalogue they have contributed to in the past. Director Andy Muschietti created the stylish, but ultimately forgettable "Mama." Only Gary Dauberman of the three screenwriters has had notable contributions to the genre, writing the disappointing "Annabelle" and much better "Annabelle: Creation." So it is quite satisfying to see that this was likely a passion project for these artists. The result being a dutiful and exhilarating remake that has every right to stand up to, and even float above the original.