No Wonder Stephen King Liked This Treatment of his Classic Story!

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2017)

The setting is Derry, Maine in Oct. 1988 to Sept. 1989 instead of Oct. 1957-1958 and I think it suits the production! George Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott)is a normal, run-the-mill 6-year-old boy with a older stuttering brother whom he idolizes named Bill (Jaeden Lieberher). Bill makes Georgie a boat out of a piece of paper and he sealed it with wax for George. Bill can't go out in the rain because he's ill. Georgie gives him a hug for the boat and runs out in the rain. The boat ends up sailing into the sewer and Georgie meets a creature one doesn't expect to see in a sewer. The creature is a clown who has Georgie's boat in his hands. Bill Skarsgard plays the clown Pennywise who introduces himself to Georgie and they have small talk. When the boy reaches for his boat, the clown turns monstrous and rips the poor kid's arm off! He drags Georgie down into the sewer while an old lady watches from her house along with her cat.
After Georgie's disappearance, the Denbrough family is basically destroyed. Bill and Georgie's parents ignore their remaining son and the grief gets too much for them! Bill isn't the only one with problems in his life. He and six other kids have to deal with less than stellar parents and horrible school bullies in their lives. The group really can't be called a band which is what a group of boys is called because of the lone girl of the group named Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis). Beverly is tormented by a group of snobby girls led by Gretta (Megan Charpentier). They all think Beverly is a slut and is trash. Everyone thinks poor Beverly is those things, too! They throw water on her and torment her.
The five other boys are overweight, bookish, Derry history buff Ben Hanscom (Jeremey Ray Taylor), aspiring comedian Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs) an orphaned home-schooled African-American boy who lost his parents in a fire. He is the only black boy in town and is a target of racism. Eddie Kasprak (Jack Dylan Grazer) is a frail boy with psychosomatic asthma and other health problems his smothering mother aka smother has made worse in her only child. Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff) is the only non-Christian of the group who is studying like mad for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah but it's not good enough for his rabbi father!
The six boys and one girl have to deal with Pennywise the Dancing Clown who uses their fears against them and a group of bullies led by the son of the police chief. Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) is the mean, evil bully who torments the group he calls the Losers Club with Belch Huggins (Jake Sim), Patrick Hockstetter (Owen Teague) and Victor Criss (Logan Thompson) as his lackeys.
Pennywise is on the loose though and the clown goes after the Losers and the Bowers' Gang as well. Patrick is eaten by the dead, floating kids. Pennywise knows what kids fear and he uses these phobias against them! Bill is tormented by Georgie, a diseased leper comes after Eddie, Beverly is scared of her leach of a father, Stan is terrified of a picture of an ugly woman in his dad's office, Mike is scared of the fire that killed his parents, and Richie hates clowns.
Bill Skarsgard makes this Pennywise his own and the results are terrifying! Tim Curry in the 1990 TV movie "IT" also scared the hell out of viewers and both actors are artists in their own right! All the kids are awesome and you emphasize with the Losers and hate the bullies! I do hope Chapter 2 lives up to Chapter 1 and the grown-up versions of the Losers are great too! I think Sophia Lillis is right about Jessica Chastain playing older Beverly because they do look like each other. I do have hopes for Bill Hader as older Richie because Richie grows up to be a comedian and they look like each other! Maybe Tim Curry can make an appearance in Chapter 2 or the actors who were in the 90's version can have cameos too! Sad to say Jonathan Brandis who was young Bill in the TV version and John Ritter who was older Ben won't be in Chapter 2 because both have died.
Last of all: I recommend this version of IT highly and hopefully Chapter 2 lives up to my recommendation as well! I am glad Bill Skarsgard is coming back as Pennywise! I did see pictures of the Skarsgard clan and all are very attractive. I think if the remade "Clueless," Cher would say a guy is a Skarsgard if he's very good- looking instead of a Baldwin. I do hope Bill wins an Academy Award next year and I wait with baited breath for Chapter 2!