It (the movie)

[Cagliostro]

And down here, with us, you'll float too.

I've bought my tickets for tomorrow morning. I read the reviews that they get the dynamic with the kids right, which is what really needs to happen to make this into a good movie. Honestly, there were times when I was reading the book really enjoying what was going on with the kids, when Henry Bowers would show up, and I'd be annoyed he ruined how good the scenes were with the kids, and then....oh yeah....there's that scary clown too.
It also sounds like they are cutting out the inter-dimensional stuff (probably no turtle), and may not look like a spider. Honestly, it wasn't all that fully realized in the book, but was interesting, so I'm a bit sad they are cutting it, but if I was making this movie, I'm not sure if I wouldn't have cut it as well. Or at least saved it until the second movie when it is a bit more important. But that just has onscreen disaster written all over it. Kinda like when they went "into the closet" in Poltergeist 2.

[Cagliostro]

So here's my spoiler free review:
I was very fond of It - they changed a lot but got so much just right, in my estimation. For me, the story is about the kids, and the clown thing is just what cements them together. It had the required brutality needed to tell the story, and the kid cast was wonderful. There were a bunch of things I wondered why they changed until I thought about how they'd do the sequel, and then it made sense. There are a couple things that I object to the cutting of, but maybe they'll even redeem that with the sequel. I still prefer Tim Curry's version of Pennywise, but the new guy isn't hateful. Some of the scares are kinda dippy, and some of the changes from the 50's to the 80's makes a couple things not make as much sense, but they did a fantastic job at transplanting, in particular Richie, to the 80s.
It felt like when I watched Fellowship of the Ring for the first time, and felt very critical of all the changes, but definitely felt they mostly got it right. But they are definitely going to have a harder time making the adult version as good in the sequel. I am definitely going to lower my expectations for that one.

[wayfriend]

Thank you!

[dlbpharmd]

We greatly enjoyed it! As Cag said, the best part about it was the great child actors, particularly Ben and Beverly.

[peter]

I've never read the book, seen the TV series or have any prior knowledge of It, before picking up on the pre-release vibe, and subsequent positive reviews for the film. My decision to go to the cinema was based primarily on the trailer - or at least cemented by a viewing of it - and while I'm not disappointed I did so, neither am I completely sold on the result. I really liked the film, but it was just a tad to .......... popcorny (?) for my taste. It seemed to have been aimed very much at the fifteen years age group at which level the film was certificated in the UK, and some of the effects (one shambling ghoul in particular) looked like they were straight out of Michael Jackson's Thriller.
But minor carping aside, the film pulled of its two and a half hour time slot well and kept me engaged to the final happy(?) end. The kids were great, so much so that I agree that chapter two where the adults will get there turn is going to have it's work cut out to pull of the second part.

[Cagliostro]

I really liked the film, but it was just a tad to .......... popcorny (?) for my taste. It seemed to have been aimed very much at the fifteen years age group at which level the film was certificated in the UK, and some of the effects (one shambling ghoul in particular) looked like they were straight out of Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Which was probably somewhat intentional. The forms It took in the book were things that scared kids in the 50s (and the book and TV miniseries took place in the 50s, so It looked like what they'd see on screen). So instead of Michael Jackson zombies, it would take the form of the Creature From The Black Lagoon and the Wolfman, and such. I'm not sure why they changed the time period, possibly because they didn't have rights to those classic movie monsters.
In the Entertainment Weekly review, they hit it exactly. That it really is two films; one that works really well is the kids in kind of a darker version of Stand By Me, and the second is the clown, which becomes kind of cartoonish, and like Freddy Kreuger. But then again, the book felt like that for me as well, although the clown was much more horrible and relentless. Things that work well in the book look dumb on screen for Stephen King. While I was reading it back in the 90s, I would enjoy the scenes of them as kids and then, "oh, yeah, the stupid clown. No, don't interrupt this great scene!" Sadly, the scares are part of the point of the movie, and they don't have as much time as the book, but I felt they did a great job at what they did. Now just to wait for the sequel where they are all grown up. I wonder how well that is going to go down.

[wayfriend]

It seems to me that, if your going to make a movie about a monster terrifying kids, you could do worse than to give it a child-like atmosphere and childish sensibilities. It puts you into a frame of mind where you are a kid, if you see what I mean. So: empathy. Adult framing would only jar.

[wayfriend]

"Variety published yesterday that IT Chapter 2 will be released September 6, 2019!"

[peter]

I shall definitely go to see it (insha'Allah {can I get away with saying that here? }), and try to read the book at some point before doing so as well.

[Cagliostro]

I still vote It the best of Stephen King's single books. I'm also very fond of the Dark Tower series, but it is uneven as hell, but at the best of times is his most compelling.

[Cail]

Very late to the party, but I finally saw this. By and large, they got the stuff with the kids pretty good, but damn Mike Hanlon got shoved into the backstory....He's relegated to Winston Zeddimore-like screen time. And sorry, too much of Henry Bowers was glossed over. Granted, cuts had to be made for running time, but so much of the atmosphere of the kids' part of the story has just vanished.

And then there's the clown. Wayfriend makes a very salient point regarding, "child-like atmosphere and childish sensibilities". However, Tim Curry set the bar so high, anything is going to be a disappointment. "Good but not great" is about as far as I can go with Pennywise.

The ending was......Interesting. I liked the floating kids. But the resolution was lacking the emotional intensity of King's (admittedly fucked up) ending. Like I said, King wrote an unfilmable scene, and there's just no satisfying way around that.

[Zarathustra]

I still vote It the best of Stephen King's single books. I'm also very fond of the Dark Tower series, but it is uneven as hell, but at the best of times is his most compelling.

Agree, though I'd say second best to Insomnia.

Still haven't seen the movie. No hurry.