A Different Take...Not Necessarily Better But Pretty Good Nonetheless.

Rating: 8/10 (18 September 2019)

No, this is not proofread, I wrote this right after walking out of the theatre what did you expect.
I honestly don't know whether to love or hate this movie. To start off with the negative - the background story of what Pennywise really, actually, is, is convoluted, cliche and, by the end of the film, doesn't make much sense. It's as if the screenwriters were so sure they were going to make money off of the sequel that they had no problem with adding a lazy plot device, ie, ask the Indian, and that they put no extra work into layering out the details of said lazy plot device.
They turn my main man Mike into a liar, a literal parody of the "crazy guy in the attic," tried to convince me that Bill's big problem with "bad endings" is more important than exploring the Richie/Eddie thing that, let's be honest, we were all pretty sure something was happening in the original TV movie, or even the short climax of Bev and Tom (that one guy you see for like three seconds, you know, enough to realize he's a bad guy, but not necessarily a great actor) and their abusive marriage.
The actors were great, don't get me wrong. Even when they shredded Mike's character or made Stanley seem like more than just a man who was terrified, they represent the character's they're supposed. It's just not the character's you might remember from the classic novel. Wasn't the fact that Mike was the literal lighthouse in the sea, and the fact that Stanley was just a terrified man, not make the books, not only more realistic, but more enjoyable. (I mean we all like to think we would be Mike or Bill, defending the Universe, but in reality we're definitely Eddie, who was scared , or Stan who was content with death over facing the "Eater of Worlds."
On to the positive, the actors are THE highlight of this movie.
Jessica Chastain is a Bev Annette O'Toole can be proud of. She's terrified of It, yet does her best to be more than just the "damsel in distress," it definitely helps that she's gorgeous, plays a layered character and delivers in her performance. James McAvoy can just find one part he doesn't shine in to give the rest of us hope and Bill Hader is witty, sarcastic and everything Will Tozier should be. Jay Ryan is gorgeous, and a great actor, and yet, somehow, seems to have a fat, scaredy-cat kid, hiding under all of that layered perfection. James Ransone, I had no idea who this guy was, but I'm amazed he's not doing more movies and being an A-Lister. He plays his part well and I actually felt emotion, real emotion, when he died, people reading this, it was intense. Isaiah Mustafa is good, but definitely the weak one, in this six-way. Andy Bean is another actor that I just want to watch more of. His few minutes on screen, and his voice-over, (spoiler: there are so many voiceovers omg there are just so many voiceovers and just those have to be like 30-45 min of the sound and editing time), are just fantastic. Bill Skarsgard can just stay a few million miles away from me, by the way, I don't know what it was but this guy freaked me out so much. It was probably his very presence, but I immediately wanted to run away when I saw his face. If anyone has a career in horror or suspense it's this guy.
I approve of this movie, I really do, I love when Directors take the gems of my childhood and don't rip them to shreds but I just feel like the plot and the entire movie could have been so much more. I give it an 8 out of 10. The actors save this lazy plot and the directors should probably thank them for that.