Afraid of clowns? No? Good! You wont get scared of this like sh*t.
The story is about how a group of kids is being scared sh*tless by a mysterious entity in the small town of Derby where kids disappear at an alarming rate. The entity takes the form of a clown and many others.
I will avoid spoilers as much as i can and will tag in bold large letters should there be any, you can skip that if you like. All photos here can be found in the trailer, or on promotional videos, i avoid posting in-movie scenes with respect to you the viewer, and the movie as well.
As of writing, red balloons now are commonplace in pranks, its a creepy thought
#1 "It" showed itself too early
This is a red flag, my condolences to you should you see this on your night swim
Remember when Insidious was scary as hell and you just wanted to cry because of all the scary sh*t you had to go through that lead up to the climax? Then you saw the Demon then heaved a sigh of relief that the worst is over, and you weren't scared anymore. Why do you feel scared with the build up? why feel tense with the creepy atmosphere prior to the big reveal of the villain or monster? you didn't' know what was coming, what form or shape or how it does things, you just know its inevitable meeting it.
To be fair, both the novel and the TV series in 1990 started with IT showing itself early, but the movie could've cut a certain scene with the big reveal on what IT is, sure you can open with a bang, but what about the rest of the lengthy movie?
Can you imagine the movie Jaws showing the full majestic splendor of the shark in the intro? Too old? how about Samara from the Ring showing her game face on at the opener? The good ones i believe tend to tease little by little, showing you glimpses of what is to come, not show the whole thing.
Sure you can say IT can manifest itself in many forms, and that it can feature other things, but the first one definitely nailed it as being the scariest of all, it leaves you in awe, shock, but the shock value(usually reserved for the climax) decreases as the movie goes on thanks to its slow pace(more on that later)
#2 IT's screen time puts Jon Snow's screen time to shame
No denying it though, you'll associate those red ballons with IT for quite some time
He's too exposed.
Now this is different from the first point in that it doesn't protest against him showing early... it's protesting that hes being shown too much. I mentioned earlier that when "It" was shown early, what happens to the rest of the lengthy film? Well more of the same.
He loses traction and momentum fast being a solo class act. Mad props to the acting, he was inhuman and terrifying at best.
You'll get used to seeing him often that he loses the mystery, the scariness and the jitters. Though they used tricky camera angles, not to mention a scare cam(i named it that) where it makes it seem like its in front of you right that instant hugging your face. He also has an array of different forms that he uses to his advantage so there's still a surprise there but it's not enough.
The selling point, the creepiness of the clown, balloons were oversold and was used early. The rest of the "fears" are but an afterthought.
#3 The first act was dragging
The Loser's Club...Oh you'll get to know everyone, dont' worry
This was a mini TV series back in the 90s and even though the run time was 190 minutes or so, it still failed to capture the whole of IT from the novel's 1000 and more pages. You probably heard this a lot of times before but the book was better than the adaptation, but boy we're just glad that there is as millions of books probably don't even have one.
Back on point, the movie tries to remedy that by not settling for not just one movie but instead dividing it in to two chapters with the sequel focusing on the adult perspective. With that, the first movie is given more leeway in developing its characters and establishing the foundation of the whole story.
The bad news is, it lingered too much on that. While we all love well rounded and developed characters for us to root for, there simply was too much too many. The losers club, the main protagonists had seven kids, with seven different backgrounds and fears, eight if you include the bully, though the movie focused mainly on probably three. Cramming it all in one sitting can be a lot and i believe IT as it was portrayed in the movie, should've been a TV series spanning multiple seasons akin to "Stranger things"
It's either that or cut some scenes, you can't drag the audience at the beginning and sprinkle some Pennywise scenes in between to compensate. You're hurting the clown, and the build up.
#4 The backstory was never mentioned
Move out while you still can...
(probably minor spoiler)
The movie instead gives you hints and clues about when it came to be, not how or why. Though it could be explained in the sequel, it was all but a mystery til the end on this movie. No clues as to how the demon came to be, where it came from, Why a clown, what brought it there. The goal of the villain is very clear however, but the purpose isn't.
It was explained in the novel via flashbacks, in the movie, you're forced to view it as something of a mystery which is why it's called IT and not by any name. Though initially not a problem, it feels incomplete when you finished the movie not just because there's a part two but because you're forced to accept that you cannot know any further and that IT is simply just IT like a cheap spooky fairy tale to scare off kids.
It works for some maybe, but for me it doesn't. Kids will be scared of course, adults will be skeptic about it and it hurts the movie's immersive capabilities as you will always treat it as something of a boogey man tale rather than something that can happen in real life. That's all because of the lack of info, kids are scared of what they don't know yes, but adults are scared with things they know but are scared of anyway.
This brings me to my other point..
#5 The movie didn't haunt me and probably wont haunt you
If only it had more hair raising scenes likes this one..and yes, this was on the trailer
This is coming from a guy who was scared sh*tless with Brendan Fraser's "The Mummy", or to more contemporary movies like "It Follows" "Ouija Origins or "Lights Out"
As i write this, i'm actually alone in a hotel room by myself and i'm not feeling anything. It's suppose to creep you out since its a movie about fearing your fears, fears that can manifest to about anything, and while i'm not afraid of clowns in the first place, the movie didn't change that, and i haven't placed high hopes that it would.
I did expect it to scare me at the very least, or shock me with jump scares(good thing it doesnt' rely too much on it)
I contemplated on why this is the case and i've narrowed it down to the following;
- Points # 1 and #2 above
- The CGI version of the clown/monster was dull. It felt cheap.
- IT lacked creepy, hair raising scenes. Annabelle Origins had more and that was a crap movie.
- The fears featured in the movie were kiddy fears, not really that of an adult and thus failed to connect with me. Sure nostalgia might settle in, but at this point in my life, i've gotten over those and the target of this R-13 film isn't kids. Its you dear reader.
- With the exception of scenes i wont mention to as not to spoil, there wasn't much gore to be had.
- it fails to build momentum from the surprise or shock. It's like riding a roller coaster with just a single drop with nothing else to sustain.
- The climax was clumsy, in a kids sort of way. Kind of makes you feel this was a Disney movie.
#6 Holes... oh the Plot holes
IT's got them where IT wants them...multiple times
(Major Spoilers)
He bites off one kid's arm in a flash, then sucks on someone's neck in another scene slowly. So does he need blood? or flesh? both? He doesn't actually kill the kids, but makes them "float" so why bite some and leave some to float?
A kiss snaps you out of the floating process... like wut? prince charming? really?
There were multiple scenes in which IT could've struck the deadly blow, but failed to do so. Is he building up their fear? has he reached his daily quota?
During the big fights, he continuously fails to kill the kids despite he's overwhelming strength and size advantage. Either he's clumsy, or weak in the presence of togetherness and brave people is one theory(which is why he loves to pick them off one by one) When they're alone and afraid, Nevertheless, it loses all tension, makes the movie feel Disneylike.
He reminds me of the great king of the jungle, the Lion. Despite it's appearance, fails on most of its hunts and eventually wins by trying over and over again.
Conclusion
Don't get me wrong, the movie was eye candy and is way better than the recent movie, Annabelle origins. It didn't rely too much on jump scares, it stayed as faithful as it can to the book (They can't of course include the Orgy for obvious reasons) It's definitely an upgrade to the aging 90s show and the acting was topnotch! Especially from IT.
You'd probably see IT and those red balloons as staples during this year's Halloween for years to come (Want to bet on it?) and the hype was well managed if not unwarranted(Killer clowns are back in public)
It's a good sit down with your buddies, for fans and for casual movie goers alike but it for the hard core thousand yard stare from veterans however, it won't crack a dent into their memory bank.
It didn't revolutionize anything, it's got more like a throwback nostalgia thing going on. It was a bit longer than usual with a very slow pace, Some scenes didn't mesh well with the overall narrative(you can remove them and it won't even matter) and some scenes were obviously cut out leaving you scratching your head.
All in all, i wouldn't go far as to saying don't watch it, but it could've done better and we all want better.
Now for the long wait... Looking forward for the next installment. Don't worry. You'll float too.
Photo links ( in order of appearance)
https://www.hypable.com/it-movie-2016-clown-panic/
https://www.heyuguys.com/stephen-kings-it-scene/
http://horrorfreaknews.com/get-know-losers-club-individual-video-bios