Don't think IT should have been done - but IT's enjoyable

Rating: 5/10 (14 September 2017)

How do you adapt a hefty 1000-page Stephen King epic for the big screen? Preferably, you don't. But if you necessarily have to, I suppose this is about as good as IT gets - and don't get me wrong, IT's still pretty darn good. IT's just nowhere near as brilliant as the novel, and that spoils quite a bit of the fun. At least for me.
Still, all said and done IT's a good film. The kids are all fairly descent actors, and Sophia Lillis is even really good. The actors to really outperform themselves are the adult creep-bags, though. Skarsgård is great as IT, and Stuart Hughes is equally great as Bowers senior. Shining brightest of them all, however, is Stephen Bogaert as Bev's insanely creepy dad. The all too few scenes featuring him are doubtlessly the movie's scariest and greatest moments. There should be a movie about him!
Anyhow, the story takes off quickly, and is driven forward at a great pace. Sometimes a tad too great, as we find ourselves thrown from one creepy clown-encounter to the next with barely any time to settle down and get to know the kids. That's sad, since it takes about two thirds of the film to get to know them, and it's not until then you really start caring for them.
All said and done, IT is a solid, non-scary but highly dramatic horror film. Enjoyable but not particularly memorable.
With that said, for those of you who've not read the book: Read IT!! Learn the origin of IT, and how much more IT is than just a creepy clown.