It doesn't quite have it

Rating: 6/10 (11 January 2018)

Plot; A group of children must face their fears, embodied in the form of a maniacal clown.
I've had a few quickly aborted attempts at reading Stephen King over the years, so I went into this second adaptation of his popular It with little in the way of bearing or expectation. Also having never seen the Made for TV adaptation from the 90s, I have no frame of reference. I knew something about a creepy clown (is there any other kind?) and some kids. That's about it for It.
Trying to be both a horror film and a coming of age dramedy, It never quite finds that simpatico balance between the two. As a result, the two elements often work at cross purposes instead of pulling the rope together. The young cast is uniformly excellent and buoy the overlong film when it threatens to sink. Bill Skarsgård is effectively creepy as Pennywise, but the character--and the film--might've fared better had they simply let him do his thing w/o the overwrought CGI hocus pocus.