IT (2017) Movie Review

You'll float too. You'll float too. You'll float too. You'll float too. YOU'LL FLOAT TOOOOO!!!

I was pretty keen on watching this movie after seeing this 1st teaser trailer. The trailer was well made, the music was so goddamn eerie, that even while watching this movie, all I was hoping for was for that damn music to come up. So I was expecting a creepy, scary movie, with good backstory etc.

Well, I got some of that, but not all of it.....

What I liked about this movie was the creep factor. What this movie really accomplished well, was the creepy, disturbing, eerie imagery. Some of the scenes were really disgusting, a little scary, and some others will make you go "WTF!". Mind you, this movie can get really violent at times, so those who can't stomach it, stay away from it! (No pun intended)

The opening scene was pretty good. Great cinematography, atmosphere, lighting. The conversation between this kid and the clown for the first time, was done well. It led to a genuinely unexpected moment for me, and I was completely taken aback. I thought I was in for a ride. 

The Pennywise clown (brilliantly portrayed by the actor Bill Skarsgård) was done pretty well. His acting, his way of dialogue, the genuine scary look on him was nicely designed. I have not seen the old 1990's mini-series, but have only seen the posters. If you compare it to that, this Pennywise looks way more scary. They could have given him a more uncanny, sinister presence, like in the opening sequence. Rest of the movie, he's just a terrifying clown, that's all.

I liked some of the arcs that the kids went through in this movie. The concept of overcoming your fear, the spirit of friendship between these "Losers", among other things, were the standouts. A bit more deeper exploration into their life experiences could have been done, but it is understandable if they hadn't, due to time constraints.

Where this movie really really faltered, was the lack of a coherent story, poorly developed scares, the way these scary scenes were placed, and the way they were edited. You get some really creepy scene one moment, and then it cuts away to some relaxing or calm scene or a funny one! What are you trying to be, movie? A horror/thriller, a horror comedy or a comedy? The blend between horror and comedy was not done that well. The comedy was there, I did laugh, but then it removes any horror or scare that the scenes before that tried to accomplish. I found myself laughing in scenes that were supposed to be serious due to characters trying to throw in "just one more joke" which began to wear on me.

There weren't any scenes that "scared" me. There were a scene or 2 that made me go "Woah shit" instead of "HOLY SHIT" (I hope the capitalisation of the words make my point clearer to you). Some of the jump scares could have been done better, some were good. This movie is more of a thriller than a horror. It's more creepier than scarier, but neither of the effects lasting for more than a while. Waiting for a scare is the scary part of horror, and this movie just throws everything at you constantly. It left me with this empty feeling, of having just watched a movie about a clown terrorizing kids. That's all. Nothing more.

One thing that I wished the filmmakers had done was to delve more into Pennywise the Dancing Clown's backstory. All we get is newspaper clippings, a few minutes of exposition, which left me with disappointment. The description of what happened is quite frightening, but nothing more about the clown. It looked like CGI and jumpscares made some interesting plotlines and story arcs being pushed to a side, leaving you with a movie that had the occasional eerie moments, interrupted by some funny ones.

All in all, this was a movie that should have delivered on the gruesome, traumatizing (for the characters) or scary imagery, giving more backstory, developing the characters of the clown and some of the other elements surrounding the event that happened in the past, but instead relied on cheap gimmics and more comedy than horror. VFX was good, but sadly was quite distracting.
They could have shown some of the more disturbing stuff that is only mentioned through backstories, to make it more chilling. Also should have reduced on the clichéd jump scares.

IT can be seen just for a fun time pass, not expecting any great horror movie, like some of the critics say. It gets a 6/10 from me.
(On a side note, do read the freaking hilarious "2:16" comments for the teaser trailer, if you feel like having a good laugh :)