It is a very good horror film, but it has some problems.

Rating: 7/10 (9 September 2017)

It is terrifying. It exploits your fears in order to make you It's victim. It wants to kill and eat you. It is not of this world, which is why it is called It. The character of It was created by horror novelist Stephen King in his 1986 book, which became a successful two-part four-hour television mini-series in 1990, and then, 27 years later, the extremely successful feature film "It" (R, 2:15). All three incarnations tell the story of a demonic alien entity which basically rode an asteroid down to earth millions of years ago and emerges every 27 years for a year or so to feed on the residents (especially the children) of what has become known as the (fictional) town of Derry, Maine. It can shape-shift, appearing in forms which best exploit the fears of It's intended victims, but It's go-to manifestation is a clown called Pennywise, who looks like a combination of Bozo, Clarabell and Ronald McDonald, but is both child-like and pure evil. The people of Derry seem to forget the disappearances caused by It and simply move on with their lives. During one of It's feeding cycles, a motley crew of socially outcast kids work together to kill It, if possible, or at least to vanquish It from the town. After they're at least partially successful, the kids take an oath to return to the town to fight It again in case It reappears in another 27 years. Of course, It does, and they do. The novel and the miniseries covered both halves of that story, taking place 1957-58 and 1984-85, while the movie sets the first part in 1988-89 and then ends by setting up a sequel taking place 2015-2016.
It uses the sewers below Derry to move about the town and snatch up as many kids as possible so, naturally, It's first appearance on screen is from inside a sewer grate. As Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård), It lures a little boy named Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) close enough to grab him, leaving his older brother, Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) unable to accept the reality of Georgie's disappearance. Several months later, it's the last day of school and we see Bill as the de facto leader of a group of 11-13-year-old social outcasts who start calling themselves the Losers Club. They are tormented by a group of bullies led by the sadistic and unbalanced Henry (Nicholas Hamilton). The Losers each have a defining characteristic which fuels the bullying: Bill stutters, Richie (Finn Wolfhard) is a loudmouth, Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) is a hypochondriac, Stan (Wyatt Oleff) is Jewish, Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor) is fat, Mike (Chosen Jacobs) is black and Bev (Sophia Lillis) is a girl who is rumored to be having sex, which is not true, except possibly with her father (Stephen Bogaert), who we see speak to and touch Bev inappropriately several times. Besides the bullies, It uses each of the Losers Club members' special characteristics against them.
As the summer begins, Bill is trying to lead his friends to help him find Georgie, whom Bill wants to believe is simply missing in the city's sewer system, but the guys find much more down there than they bargained for. When the Losers Club is complete (with the addition of Ben, Mike and Bev, thanks to the actions of Henry and company), the group bonds while swimming in the quarry, getting into a rock fight with the bullies and, especially, chasing It. Through their combined knowledge of the town, these kids piece together the reasons that so many kids disappear in Derry and they seem to be the only ones willing and able to do something about It. It must feel threatened, because It begins to haunt each of the kids (appearing as Pennywise and in various other frightening forms) and attempts to kill all of them. Trying to outsmart It, outrun the bullies & outlast their abusive parents makes for quite a summer vacay.
"It" is a very good horror movie, but it has some problems. Most importantly, this is one of the best adaptations of a Stephen King novel and is one of the scariest movies of the year. It's kind of like if Steven Spielberg remade "E.T." as a horror film. The script, by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga (the film's original director) and Gary Dauberman features good character development and tells an exciting and complete story, even as it leads into the follow-up film in this pre-planned duology. Director Andy Muschietti (who helmed 2013's "Mama") gives us plenty of good scares and disturbing images and gets remarkable ensemble work from his cast of mostly child actors (most of whom had very little experience before this movie), while Bill Skarsgård (with the help of great costumes and makeup) puts the perfect combination of creepy whimsy and dangerous menace into his performance. Unfortunately, we also get bullies who are unrealistically aggressive, kids who use an uncomfortable amount of adult language, universally useless adults who range from impotent to abusive, and plot points which aren't sufficiently developed. "It" is imperfect, but it definitely entertains. "B+"