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(film review) - IT

Me and scary movies is really touch and go.  I'm not even sure where I stand with them because I would watch a Paranormal Activity, Annabelle or Exorcist (well some of them), but I didn't watch the first IT movie.  I knew about it and I don't think I was scared per se, I just wasn't really bothered; and where everyone around me was talking about it and the famous sewer part, I just wasn't keen on watching IT and ultimately, to THIS DAY, still don't know what the infamous sewer par, was/is.  So, I think to myself, I may not have been scared by the movie itself, so I didn't want to watch it OR the thought of it scared me so I was disinterested in it.  Either way, it was a "who cares!" mentality that won.  So, as this is my first IT experience, let me tell you what IT is all about and what I thought of IT.

IT is about a bunch of young teenagers who live in a town named Derry.  Derry is the sort of place where it is a quiet town that seems semi detached from the real world; and the people there...hmmm, let me not get into that just yet, but a boy named Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) makes a paper toy boat for his younger brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) to play with.  Georgie goes out into the torrential rain and sails his boat until it sails into a sewer.  Georgie attempts to retrieve the boat from the sewer but is met with a clown and that is the last we ever see of Georgie.  As more and more people go missing in the town, ' The Losers', Georgie's older brother Bill and his mates call themselves all see the Clown dubbed as IT, and while they try to deal with "regular life" in Derry, IT finds ways to torment and scare the losers and they must come together to confront the clown and find a way to kill IT.

Brilliant movie, I thought.  From casting, to acting, to delivery and direction.  IT had the right amount of tension and scares.  In this day and age where you can guess where a scare is coming or how, I found this scary movie somewhat refreshing; just like the story and the modern changes they made from the book.  I hadn't read the book as it's meant to be longer than the Old Testament, but since it was written in a different time, I can only assume there are old themes/scenarios in the story in which the director (Andy Muschietti) has adapted and given a modern spin/take to it which has also made the film very enjoyable.
Stand out actors in this movie is obviously the rising star that is Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things fame who plays Richie; he is hilarious.  His banter with Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) is exactly what it is like being a teenager in the earlier years throwing insults left and right at each other and their parents as adolescent banter - with that said, Eddie is also great as the guy who is somewhat allergic to and terrified of everything (because there IS always one).  Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown is equally terrifying, scary, goofy and funny and at times I felt he was soo good at being a clown, I wondered at times why he didn't simply do what he wanted to do straight away than drag it out and parade himself, well, like a clown.  The other children actors are really good but when some characters aren't given much dialogue or screen time, it's hard to have all of the children stand out bar the ones they want to focus on, or at least that's how it felt, unless their story/performance just wasn't strong enough.  Derry as a town has a huge a mount of lore in which they touch upon in the movie and it makes you think how people in the "real world" do not know about the missing people which occur every so often.  I mean it must make you wonder, right?  Why would you move into a town where kids play in the rain by themselves and go missing, or people just go missing.  It's a bizarre place.  All in all, IT was a very good watch and I really enjoyed the movie.  It is not for the faint hearted as there were some legit scares that made me jump as well as those gross moments that are visually impactful.  You'll float too!






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