IT... was LIT (Movie Review Spoilers Probably!!)

By Corey Floyd

Well this summer has been very interesting movie wise there were hits misses and some straight up bombs.  

But the one movie I have been waiting patiently for was the IT remake. For those of you that don’t know IT was a 2 part miniseries based on Stephen King novel of the same name. The story is about a small town in Maine (Like most King Novels) that is plagued with a series of kidnappings and deaths every 27 years. The series aired in 1990 to critical acclaim.  Now it’s on the big screen for a new generation. Oh shit!!!!!

well played movie well played.  The main cast of this film is children. I love the fact that child actors are being taken more seriously these days. This cast is strong with new faces and and one strangely familiar. The main character is Bill who has a stuttering problem that only proceeds to get worse after the mysterious disappearance of his little brother. He is played by Jaeden Lieberher last scene in Dark comedy St. Vincent with Bill Murray.

.  

There’s also newcomer Jeremy Ray Taylor as the New Kid Ben     Chosen Jacobs who I saw on Hawaii five O plays Mike Hanlon cause let’s be honest there had to be like one black family in this town in Maine. Sadly he plays the survivor of a deadly house fire that claims his parents  

.  

Sophia Lillis makes some elbow room among this boys club as Beverly. A girl with a genuine heart of gold with a very nasty creepy Law & Order SVU father and sadly she has been declared the school skank. .  Then there’s Finn Wolfhard some of you remember him as Zoran from The 100 series but more than likely you know as Mike from Stranger Things he plays Richie Tozier the sharp tongued kid in the group who is actually afraid of clowns.  Also  accompanied by Jack Grazer who plays Eddie the ultimate mamas boy & germaphobe. And Wyatt Oleff who played a younger Star Lord in GOTG plays Stanley the scared and very quiet type.  

In the original mini series series took place in the 60’s. But since it’s 2017 and we love the 80’s that's where this one takes place. How 80’s is it !?  It’s so 80’s that the character Ben is  huge fan of NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK and make references to it to impress Beverly. I guess he think he has

But seriously the main tone of this film is fear. Everyone in this town is caught up in their fears that it controls them. Eddie’s mother has raised him to be afraid of everything and made him believe he had medical conditions. She went as far as to have him taking placebos for sicknesses he didn’t have. She never liked him leaving the house and based off her age I think she knew about IT just like the rest of the town’s adults who were in control. You can’t act like you don’t know what’s going and just implement a curfew   .   Okay so let’s talk about IT’s favorite form Pennywise the dancing clown. The original was played by Tim Curry. His acting is some of the best in the world. You have seen or heard him at some point. I’m not asking I’m telling you check his IMDB. His Pennywise was comedic and scary . But his appearance was friendly and his presentation put kids guard down

which helps lure the kids in.  Whereas Skarsgard appearance look like a failed attempt at being friendly looking .

It appears that the makeup team used prosthesis to give him a baby face appearance but his eyes and five-head give him away. Plus  there’s something about the way he talks, you have to be gullible. I’d like to show a comparison between the two. The same scene one the 2017 version the second the one from the 90’s. Hopefully it help you to understand what I’m saying  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5qv21eKFwg . Also I noticed that the new Pennywise’s outfit is very strange. Even for a clown

I think the costume department did a great job. What I also realized was that the costume is part of the story. I don’t wanna say one is better than the other. I will leave that up to you. While the kids were putting the pieces together with the help Ben’s research it was discovered that IT has been around for hundreds of years. It is reflected in his clothes. Buy the time I get to my 5th time seeing the clown I realized that his clothes are pieces from different time periods which reflect how long he has been around. Which is a really good detail.

This movie make more references to the book than the mini series in my opinion. One thing they kept in. Very few adults , here are not too many adults in this movie and the one we have are very twisted and in some cases perverted. Beverly's father is a prime example. He comes comes off as a possessive and abusive father. The older kids in this movies are hand down the worst bullies I’ve ever seen. There’s a scene where they gang up on Ben and literally begin to carve into his stomach with a knife. Its was hard to watch. Later we see that the bully himself is bullied by his own father. Pennywise senses that fear and convinces him to stab his dad in the neck in his sleep as he appears on a TV in the middle of a kids sing a long    . Sorry I’m trying really hard not to spoil things. Seriously  I’ve been learning that a lot of people have no idea what IT is about. Not ragging on anyone for not knowing about IT just saying I don’t want to spoil it.   

Okay I know getting long in the tooth here. My only issue is there’s a slight plot hole in the third act that I will get into on a video soon. My other is that the movie ended on a light note. The mini series did have a better ending to the first part. Whereas this was like  

which will be going thru your mind thru the whole damn film. If you have not seen this film

so go see it. I had a really fun time watching this movie I have not been scared in a theater in quite some time. It was funny , nostalgic and violent. Also this feels like it could have been a Nightmare on Elm Street movie with the flow of the film (Fred Heads will get this).  Which was a real surprise for me since a lot of mainstream horror has dialed back the violence for basic jump scares. Yes there are jump scares in this movies but they end in gore which cannot be said about most horror films today. I Hope I did not spoil the hell out this film but I want you guys to float your butts down the the theater and check out IT. GRADE: A