Worth the Wait by a It Devotee (MINOR spoilers if any)

Rating: 10/10 (8 September 2017)

I would say very minor spoilers ahead. Long time IMDb reader and first time reviewer. The book is my absolute favorite read of all time reading it cover to cover three times since 1990 (try to break long enough between readings so I forget something). The book is just incredible and I could not recommend it enough.
Onto the movie ... I know that I really liked it but wasn't sure how much after watching It. Totally skirting around spoilers (or being as ambiguous as possible) the stuff I didn't like as much as I had hoped: - so many key scenes were not in the movie that were in the kids' section of the book. This is expected in a movie adaptation but I mean key ones like the Loser Club individual interactions with It that helped them bond. On a personal level, there were some scenes from the kids' part of the book I was DYING to see on screen and a lot weren't in the film (I am looking at you, standpipe). - I haven't seen this mentioned in other reviews yet but the motivator for the 'final showdown' between the Losers Club and Pennywise is unique to the movie. The decision to face Pennywise is more 'forced' than in the book. - I am still scratching my head over the 'death' of one of the central (and more interesting) characters of the adult section of the book but we will see what's up with that ;)
From where I was sitting the CGI looked quite good and remember that It/Pennywise is meant to be a horrific entity that would be VERY difficult (if not impossible) to capture with practical effects. I had no issue with the very good CGI.
The good stuff: - I can't stress enough that the acting from ALL of the kids was terrific (let's not forget to include young Georgie). Too many horror movies have dumb-ass teenagers with one dimension (save the customary sole survivor(s)) that I couldn't care less if they die or live. This is not the case with It. Even though some of the kids are more focused on than others (i.e. Beverly and Bill, not enough Mike or Richie) I could say that I did care if they lived or died ;) - Skarsgård as Pennywise ... Curry is GOLD as Pennywise and I scoffed at the idea that Skarsgård could lace his clown shoes. I will eat crow. Skarsgård was excellent and his performance was dissimilar enough from Curry's take on Pennywise. I may agree with some that he didn't get enough screen time but really chewed it up when he did. - The theme and mood of the book (menacing and cruel, not held back for a TV movie audience) was captured excellently.
Although I may be biased (based on my adoration for the book), this is the best horror film that I have seen in years. Can't wait for Part 2!