Amazing

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2018)

'It' is a surprisingly heartfelt coming-of-age film led by a brilliant cast, and is no doubt creepy, and at some points, terrifying. Being one of the most anticipated horror films of 2017, I was eager to see this as soon as possible. I had high expectations, particularly for Bill Skarsg책rd's portrayal of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, as he had big shoes to fill, and he did not disappoint! He played the role so well, and was the perfect combination of creepy and hilarious (like most clowns are)! However, the potential for this film to be truly horrifying was lost in the overload of CGI and visual effects. Many of the scares were drenched in over-the-top visual effects that took away the feeling of reality. Even Skarsg책rd's performance got lost in the midst of CGI at some points which I found rather disappointing as it wasted the potential! Horror movies are far more effective with fewer effects! Thankfully, this did not stop the film from being fantastic in all other aspects. The casting was amazing, particularly with all the child actors who played their roles so well and were quite entertaining at some points! I laughed in this movie more than I screamed. The definite highlights in the acting were Finn Wolfhard and Sophia Lillis. There's a great chemistry between all of the main actors which effectively highlights the theme of friendship, which is one of the films biggest themes. Andy Muschietti adapted Stephen King's novel very strongly, and his direction is very well done. When combined with the fantastic cinematography by Chung-hoon Chung and chilling soundtrack by Benjamin Wallfisch, you get all the right emotions of suspense and terror, resulting in a great horror film, that surprisingly has a lot of complexity and heart.