Pennywise the dancing clown

Rating: 7/10 (11 September 2017)

Stephen King is a genius and the vast majority of his work is great and worth spending your money on, be it the books or the adapted movies or both. So as a fan of King and his intriguing work I thought I'd give this film a watch. From the appearance of the 'Warner Bros' logo we are immediately sent into the town of Derry where a very atmospheric and effective first encounter with Pennywise occurs. The element that was so great about the miniseries was encapsulated in the introduction of this film, being the played innocence of Pennywise in persuading Georgie to take the boat with the untold sinister intent of killing him later. From that first appearance of Pennywise we don't get another one like it.... Instead we get jump scare after jump scare. Some I realised were necessary and had some weight to them but others felt forced and formulaic. And it seemed as though (due to all of the advertising)the movie had to show Pennywise past the appropriate amount of times until he was just about as scary as one of the kids moms. That being said I enjoyed the banter had by 'The Losers club' and the solid acting by the kids. The story as a whole was also entertaining (even though I'm not the biggest horror film fan)and Bill Skarsgard did a good job as Pennywise especially when he used subtle movements and mannerisms. There are some scenes that are exceptionally disturbing then some which are comical which I also liked.
The ending was okay, I'm on the fence about it. They came together as emphasized because they are technically a 'club' to defeat Pennywise and overcome their fears. But then at times during the end fight it felt silly and too 'in your face.' However all in all it was a well shot, well acted and well written adaptation of the one thousand and something page novel that will satisfy the majority of film goers and some fans of the novel.
7.5/10