The second half is worthy, well-cast and mostly faithful adaptation of the book

Rating: 7/10 (4 September 2019)

For most of the people out there who will watch it for the scares, there are plenty of them abound. The talked-about homophobic scene is quite good a starter. But what I found the most satisfying in the scares territory were The Ritual of Chud, and The Walking Tours of each of the Losers. Both are the longest among the scares, and the filmmakers did an amazing job of presenting them from book to big screen, albeit somewhat different. I personally thought they were hard to adapt. Like the Paul Bunyan scene but most especially the Ritual of Chud.
Apart from the scares, the movie will make people laugh out loud as well. Bill Hader and James Ransone are quite the comic relief. And the appearance of Stephen King is spot-on and funny too.
There are those who complain that the movie is overlong and not as scary as they expected it to be, but I can say that most people who read It and those who did not but appreciate the first movie as the package it was will be satisfied.
Because it's not just the scares that make us follow the story. It is the characters themselves. The coming of age. The nostalgia. The old times. The friends who come along and stay. The friends who come along but leave. The unconditional love. The promises whether honored or not. The power of belief. The guilt. The personal fears we want to overcome. The strength and weakness of memory. How most of the times the bad things we want to forget stick with us longer than the good things we want to remember. It evokes something powerful in us that makes us the humane people we are. We identify ourselves in each of the Losers. And that is one very good side It shared with us. It makes us remember. It makes us hope.
And the score by Benjamin Wallfisch made It all the more powerful and the well-cast characters they were.
It is not a perfect movie. There are scenes that don't work as intended. But those that do more than make up.
So bring on the Director's Cut.
Be true. Be brave. Stand.