A missed opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (10 September 2017)

This is a brief review without spoilers.
"It" has serious narrative problems. The story of corrupted childhood and unresolved adolescent trauma with an analogous terrorising clown is a strong bedrock on which to build character and story but something went wrong with this film. Was it the script or the editing? Perhaps both but regardless the narrative structure is disjointed and jarring. The opening of the film is strong and places character at the fore, where it belongs (for both the children and Pennywise the clown) but that soon gives way to episodic, fragmented and at times illogical storytelling.
The children's life experiences shape their fears but too often these are unexplored or are seen much later in the film loosing a linear structure which is vital to build psychological suspense. Pennywise is pretty much reduced to being the scary clown who literally chases the kids.
There are some positives; the performances are good, there are some good visual touches e.g. Pennywise climbing out of the fridge and the lighting and cinematography are good. However, all in all, it feels like a missed opportunity to produce an intelligent, psychologically disturbing and relatable horror classic.