A Reel Review: IT

Horror movies can often get away with a lot. Their primary goal, of course, is to scare us (or as Steven Spielberg once said, send the popcorn flying), and as long as that is done, any horror flick can earn a pass no matter what is done with the story or characters. A really good horror film makes the fear seem real; something natural or primal. But a great horror movie not only scares us deeply, but provides a layer of depth to make us care about the characters who are dealing with the terror, and the material provided by Stephen King’s novel IT offers the opportunity to accomplish just that.

In the small town of Derry, Maine in the late 1980’s, a string of missing children are tied to the lurking creature Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgard), who terrorizes the town every 27 years by making everyone face their deepest fears. After Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) has his little brother disappear, he and his gang of friends (Jack Dylan Grazer, Stanley Uris, and Finn Wolfhard), set out to unravel the mystery, and pick up new friends along the way, including Beverly (Sophia Lillis), Mike (Chosen Jacobs), and new kid in town Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor).

After a terrifying opening sequence which has Pennywise abducting Bill’s little brother, IT settles into a slow build of establishing its characters and surroundings. Beginning with the little town of Derry, where missing children and disasters seem as commonplace as taking a trip to the store. Moving on to the main characters, there is terrific work done in setting up the kids’ personalities and backstories. Each one of them has a story to tell, and while the early goings of the film spends a lot of time getting the gang together and moving the chess pieces where they need to be, it ultimately pays off.

The characters are established well enough where we root for, and feel for each one of them, but IT falls short in developing Pennywise to the same degree. Hints are dropped here and there as to where the hell he (it) came from and why he does what he does, and we expect a real reveal at the end, but that reveal never comes and is clearly being saved for the next film. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it does contribute to the troublesome final act (more on that it in a bit).

IT at its core is a horror movie, and it delivers. Director Andres Muschietti unleashes Pennywise in small doses at first, and then lets him go with his foot on the gas. The horror sequences in which Pennywise scares the kids shitless all have their distinct traits (feeding on everyone’s individual fears), and the scenes are absolutely relentless. Just when we think things would let up or the scene would end, it just keeps on going to un-nerving degrees. There is some great practical work done here as well, especially a scene where gallons upon gallons of blood are thrown on a character.

Muschietti in the meantime shows us an absolutely beautiful film in all of its horrific glory. Every shot is meticulously framed, and the lighting schemes are stunning. Set design is awesome; everything from an abandoned house to Pennywise’s lair is awesome in a spooky way. Pacing is brisk and there are no dull or boring moments at all. Benjamin Wallfisch’s score is fantastic.

Acting is very good. Bill Skarsgard (son of Stellan) is fascinating as Pennywise, and the bastard does a little trick in which his two eyes go in different directions. Chilling to the bone. The kids are all great together and their banter is reminiscent of some of the great pre-teen movies of the 1980’s. The standouts are Jaeden Lieberher and Sophia Lillis who have the most heavy lifting to do. Nicholas Hamilton nearly steals the show as the leader of a bully gang who is as sadistic as Pennywise. The only minor issue in the acting is that the kids often blurt out their lines way too fast, making it tough to keep up with them or understand them.

The finale, and final fight the kids have against Pennywise relies way too much on shaky-cam and CGI, and in the last 15 minutes it seems like Muschietti loses all the fine discipline he displayed in the first 95% of the movie. The final solution to the threat seems to be stumbled upon by accident, and all the homework the kids did on Pennywise does not pay off. It’s a minor gripe in a movie that’s perfect up until then, and when the credits roll there’s a definite shrug to be had. There’s a lot that seems to be punted down the road for the next film, and perhaps after that things will make better sense. But until then, this first chapter does indeed make the popcorn fly, and finds time to tell a good story.

BOTTOM LINE: See it