Pales in comparison to the original.

Rating: 5/10 (14 September 2017)

With the leaps and bounds made in special effects, and the stringent television guidelines placed on the original, I was nothing but hopeful for a remake. The original costuming and other visual bits released to tease had me convinced that this film would be nothing short of spectacular. I don't think I've ever been so wrong.
The child cast is wonderful. They're splendid actors who take to their roles as if they born for them. The story, familiar to all those who braved the original, runs just about the same course as it did in the original series (straying from the book in the areas you know where too taboo to be addressed). No complaint there.
The violence, broadcast in tenuous CGI, isn't alarming in the sense the film-makers intended. It's alarming that the original, showing much much less and leaving more to our imaginations, accomplished far greater scares. The bloodiest bits look more like a made-for-TV effect reel than a major release. Pennywise, the titular being meant to make clowns scary for not just those with coulrophobia, comes off like a dime store version of Tim Curry's rendition. Oafish and at many times grossly and strangely over-acted, I found myself shaking my head in disdain more than fear. It gets so bad at points that I found myself wondering if I should even finish the film.
Overall, I'm greatly disappointed.