I
remember watching the miniseries of IT as a child and being fascinated by Tim
Curry’s Pennywise. Goofy and sometimes hilarious but also terrifying. I was so
fascinated that I read the book when I was about 9, which turned out to be
quite a confusing experience, thanks to the sewer sex scene that’s being
brought up pretty often online, but also due to the totally bizarre lore about
universe-puking turtles and evil beings made out of lights crashing to Earth on
asteroids. Honestly, it made me think King was a bit of a hack, even at such a
tender age.
But
undeniably the man created incredibly iconic imagery, and that’s as true now as
it ever was. So I was pretty eager to watch IT,
with the new, creepier Pennywise and the story updated to the 80s still being
set long enough ago to inspire nostalgia.
Honestly,
this version of IT is a little disappointing.
It relies too much on sudden shocks and dodgy CG, especially when it comes to a
creepy woman from a painting coming to life, and the kids never seem all that
scared. Instead of having to face their fears in the knowledge that they cannot
possibly hurt It, they seem empowered to just beating up whatever they see, and
It for some reason doesn’t instantly tear them limb from limb despite being
shown to be capable of it. There’s not enough build-up of suspense, and when it
does get built well – like in the projector scene – the payoff is too abrupt.
For a movie that’s wholly about fear, there’s not enough of it.
The
script also changes the book’s few kids with huge problems stemming from their
parents/guardians to that being the case for every single one of them (bar the
underdeveloped loudmouth), to the extent it seems like ticking off angst boxes.
The film also cuts the book into two parts, with none of the adult storyline
present here at all. Though the timeline with the kids is way better, that decision
makes this part seem very shallow overall, and makes me fear for the sequel
part because the return to Derry and final showdown really isn’t very exciting.
Taking
parts in isolation, IT still has some
amazing images, clever ideas and strong performances from a cast of cute
adolescents. But it doesn’t really stand alone as a story, as a horror or as a
coming-of-age allegory.
