A great book that deserves better.

Rating: 6/10 (6 October 2017)

I will start by saying I'm a big fan of the book, and was realistic about how adaptions for the big screen rarely pay off.
Spoilers ahead.
I found the film to be very nostalgic, with subtle nods to the viewer who love the novel, such as the Paul Bunyan Statue, the Tracker Bros and Freese's shirts, the mural in the alleyway of the shootout, various inclusions of Turtle motifs, etc. More than once I found myself smiling with glee.
I had a problem however, with how the kids were already established as friends, as the novel is hinged on how the individual children find each other one by one, and find solace in each other when it looks like Pennywise is destined to kill them. They watered down the "loser" aspect of the Loser's Club, which I feel doesn't help when trying to care about them. Although the kids deliver great on screen presence, the look oddly aged in relation to each other. I really think this film should have been broken down into two films, giving enough material is there to fully flesh out these characters. Henry Bowers is huge force in the novel, and barely features in the film.
I was hoping for the cerebral ending that features in the book, given that the Mini series didn't have the budget to do it, but sadly it doesn't feature the Ritual of Chüd, the Smokehole ceremony, the Macroverse or much of the Deadlights. Im glad they chose not to include the dude on dude HJ and the Losers Club running a train on Bev in the sewer from the book. Silver linings...
Pennywise was well done, although CGI featured too frequently. The film itself is darker than the Mini Series and closer to King's gruesome vision, but not close enough for me. Im really hoping the part 2 is going to go over much of what was missing from this film.
Go see this film AND read the book.