Overall, another great remake, and a new, soon to be horror classic

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2017)

A very creepy and well put together remake; something I never say about any remake, ever, especially one for a horror flick. The It novel by Stephen King has been with us since the 80's, and I never knew why with all the pointless remakes like The Nightmare on Elm Street or The Wickerman (god help us), no studio decided to give the It novel a full on feature film. There's so much to use from that book; it literally demands a feature. The craze of remaking EVERY.SINGLE.HORROR.MOVIE isn't done yet, it's slowly fading, but out of every ten we get there's always one that makes sense. I haven't seen the original 1990 miseries for years now, and all I remember are the iconic scenes, like Pennywise's reveal in the sewer, and I'll get to that in a second. I see this movie in a packed theater; there was cheering, screaming, laughing and applause. Haven't seen that since The Avengers.
The story follows the lives of seven individuals, kids who, after the disappearance of the lead characters little brother, all begin to experience nightmare visions, all coming from one ancient evil source, a creature in the form of a clown named Pennywise. Along the way, they deal with neighborhood bullies, abusive parents and their own personal fears. This leads them to track down the evil presence, before they themselves become the victims of the clown.
But like all movies, there are pros and cons, so I'll start with the pros. Other than the actors in the film, who do a great job, especially the child actors, I like how all of them fit seemingly into the 80's era. Most of the characters work, and I'll also get to that in a bit. As for Bill Skarsgård, I think he fits the role of Pennywise very well; would definitely make Tim Curry proud. But if there's still one thing Curry tops him in is part of what makes clowns truly creepy, the trust factor. Whereas Skarsgård's Pennywise is a full on 'demon from the pits of hell', Curry's Pennywise spoke with a whimsical voice, a cheerful glee. Maybe that'd be too cheesy for a 2017 horror film, but I just don't see any kid speaking to the new Pennywise and not straight away yelling "stranger danger". Curry's Pennywise spoke with a level of trust that took him slightly more away from the "Uncanny Valley"
I also liked that the movie moved away from showing the origin of Pennywise. As it is I think the origin they gave Pennywise it tacky as all hell (seriously look it up), but that extra layer of mystery is what makes characters like these even more terrifying. Same reason the Joker is so fascinating (or at least, until his own movie comes out, thanks DC).
As for the first con, I'd say it some of the dumb decisions. I can understand that the main character wants to find Pennywise to kill him for killing his brother, but why does he separate from the group, when he himself wanted to keep the group together? Also some of the characters were dumb or just not fleshed out enough to make them make sense. There's one character who needs an inhaler, and his mom is one of those overbearing protective mother types, like Kathy Bates in Waterboy, but to an absurd degree. But why? the first time we see her in the movie she seems like an ordinary mom, and then later on she's like this, for some reason. It's like the scriptwriters were desperate to give the inhaler kid some personal issue to deal with. I heard that's in the book but if you don't have enough time to flesh that out why put it in there at all? Also some of the jokes hit at the worst times, when we should be feeling scared. Reminded me of the end of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 when Peter makes that "walkman" joke. Also, the jump scares remind me of a Paranormal Activity movie, or any found footage movie really. They're cheap, and the film does nothing new with them which made me roll my eyes every time they kept on using them.
I haven't read the book, but from what I've heard on line from those who have read it, it remains very accurate, and doesn't shy away from showing gore or violence, like the scene at the beginning. There's more I've probably forgotten to add, but that's it from the top of my head. Overall, a very enjoyable remake, and I definitely see this movie becoming a horror classic ten years down the line; but maybe not "The Shining" level, more like "Cloverfield" level. Hopefully Andy Muschietti directs It:Chapter Two, and ends the story with a bang.