Here’s my IT movie review. The film is directed by Andy Muschietti and stars Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard and more. Now showing in theaters!

“IT” is based on the Stephen King novel of the same title which was published in 1986. It’s the story of a bunch of teenagers going against a supernatural entity that disguises itself as a clown and hunts down children which he later eats. The novel was turned into a TV series in the 80s with Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown.

It Movie Review – Pros

I have to give credit where it’s due. The movie definitely looks like how the book was written. If you’ve read the book, you might get confused because of the way the story was structured going between the “past” and the “present”. In this movie, everything’s set in the past, 1988 to 1989 to be exact. So very linear, its good.

Cinematography was excellent. I loved those sweeping aerial shots of Derry or how the camera pans around inside that cistern which was converted in Pennywise’s lair. Loved that scene where the Bower Gang chase dow history freak Ben by the river. Everything that needs to look beautiful or good and everything that needs to be dark and scary do so. The supreme camerawork even shines brightly in the key scare pieces for the movie (and that’s A LOT).

Lots of jump scares makes this movie an edge-of-your-seat thriller. The nightmares It has been giving the kids from the Loser’s Club also has an interesting take. It’s also interesting to see them run and jump and scream.

For this It movie review, I also want to commend the fillmakers for a job well done in instilling fear for clowns once more. Pennywise as a character is imposing. They picked up the right actor to play the part, which is Bill Skarsgard. His take on the character is very supernatural. He doesn’t even want to pretend that he’s something else.

It movie review – Cons

This It movie review would be remiss if we don’t point out that there will be a lot of comparisons between “Stranger Things” and “It”. And it’s hard not to. But know that “It” was the first one with the retro vibe, the token girl, the token black guy and bikes in a quiet town. It’s an inspiration for S.T. if you ask me.

One of the three problems I am marking down in this It movie review is the fact that by the time you make it to third act, you’re tired of all the scares. You’ll scream and jump pero you’ll be experiencing fatigue. It’s like getting the same clown going “boo” for a hundred and fifty times.

Would it have killed them to flesh out the back story for the other members of the Loser’s Club. Sure Billie and Beverly gets all the screen time but we never really see why the other kids are scared of what they are scared of. And even some that already have backstories fall flat in some aspects like Mike’s burnt hands nightmare, its not nearly enough. Would have really wanted to see more of this.

It movie review – Verdict

9/10

With my two gripes discounted, I’m definitely happy with this version of It. The use of modern sensibilities make for some retro vibes while at the same time the computer generated images and scares are surprisingly solid.  I’m actually planning on taking some time to watch the TV movie and make a comparison down the line. But if you’re on a budget both for time and cash, I highly recommend “It”.