Strong in parts, IT struggles to stay fresh and maintain cohesion

Rating: 7/10 (25 June 2018)

With some great set-piece scares and an ensemble of impressive teen actors, IT works well and hews close to the feel and substance of King's source material, even though its narrative core often feels weak. The movie struggles in places to escape cliché (heavy reliance on a scary house and scary clown being the main offenders), but manages to find disturbing power in the behaviour of the adult (and near adult) citizens of Derry. Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Chris Nashawaty complains of Pennywise the clown, "the more we see of him, the less scary he becomes". This is true, but - whether intentionally or not - this truth reflects a central theme of the movie: it is by banding together and overcoming their fear of IT that the "Losers' club" ultimately prevails.