IT review

Rating: 8/10 (14 September 2017)

Even you are not a fan of Stephen King or horror, you should still watch the movie IT. As a suspense/horror film, the movie does a good job building the intrigue and mystery of the town of Derry as well as Pennywise the Clown. Pennywise looks very creepy and is an interesting and engaging villain. It uses impressive special effects for the demon clown and shows what IT is capable of becoming in order to scare the kids. Using their fears to attack them. There are some good jump scares but the movie does not overly rely on those.
One thing that the movie does overly rely on is the music cues to build up the suspense. The overuse of it made the scare beats become a bit predictable in the film. There were also weird times when random songs would pop up and then be cut off abruptly. There were some cool camera tricks like rotating and zooming that I thought were impressive. Overall the film looks great and has an aesthetic similar to The Goonies or Stranger Things.
What this movie succeeds at is telling the story of the children. This very much feels like a young adult coming of age story. The child actors all do a great job, and the characters are really engaging which allows the audience to become sympathetic to them. The story is focused on the kids and their fears. Each kid has a fear or obstacle in their life that they need to overcome in order to help defeat Pennywise. They are all very distinct characters but still feel like a group of friends. The movie was at its best when exploring the lives of the children.
The movie touches on some of the mythology about Pennywise and the town of Derry, but it's important to remember that this is the first part of the story. There is going to be a sequel movie that can delve deeper into some of the material from the book. While there are some minor problems with the movie, it is still a very well made and engaging film that I recommend people checking out. Even though it's cast is a group of kids, I would not recommend anyone under the age of 13 due to some very adult themes and imagery. This movie succeeds at being a suspense drama with elements of horror that keeps the audience entertained throughout.