Darn It!

Rating: 4/10 (27 April 2020)

Who is Pennywise, or rather what is Pennywise? Is he an exotic animal/predator? A wraith? An old ghost from the netherworld who can control who sees him and who doesn't? Why is the police/FBI sleeping despite a large number of kids disappearing? This premise is utter nonsense. Jeeper Creepers franchise had a similar one and honestly did a better job of making it consumptible than this duology has even though the visual/aural elements of "It" are far superior to the former. I haven't read King's book in which perhaps everything makes sense, but this review is of the movie, not the book, so let's not go there.
Whoever Pennywise may be, I'm convinced that he most certainly is the creative director of this movie, and a very selfish one at that, because it's only in the scenes involving "it" that this movie comes alive. The rest of the footage is just an appalling and boring mass of blubber containing never-ending, illogical character introductions and conflict set-ups. This movie is like Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd's performances separated by long filler material. It was perhaps lost on the director that good makeup and state-of-the-art visual effects can't carry the burden of narrative for 169 minutes. McAvoy stands tall among the cast but his hands haven't the tools he can work his magic with. SkarsgÃ¥rd is awesome once again. I blame squarely the editor Jason Ballantine for this movie's failings, since it was his duty to ensure that the narrative be smooth, interesting, and agile, none of which happened.
I constantly asked myself, "When will the director be done with setting up characters and make them proceed toward an enthralling and unpredictable resolution of the conflict," and I got my answer as my mother woke me up after my second slumber during the first 90 minutes, NEVER. I gave up after that, reached for my TV's remote control and shifted to another title on Amazon Prime. I give 4 points, one each for production design, makeup, visual effects, and Â½ each for acting and sound.