It just isn't scary

Rating: 3/10 (17 December 2018)

I read the book, so of course my critique on the movie is going to be harsh. I understand that most often comparing books to their theatrical counterparts is comparing apples to oranges. The biggest problem with the movie is that it's just not scary... at all. Nope, not even a little.
I was pretty excited when I heard about the reboot of the It movie, since the original was a bit comical, although it did a fair job of capturing the essence of the characters.
Unfortunately, I think this movie just missed the mark on every level from the rushed character development to the silly looking clown. It felt like a dressed-up, watered-down version of what it should have been. The essence of It isn't in a scary monster-clown. It's in an unseen malevolent force that haunts a group of misfit friends one fateful summer. It's the unknown, inescapable, and underlying foreboding that lurks ever near. This movie just doesn't get it.