By Edwin Torres ’18
“It” is a two part movie remake of the TV mini-series released in 1990 based on the novel by Stephen King. “It,” is part one of the two part movie series that follows a group of misfits known as the Losers Club from the town of Derry and their recurring encounters with an evil entity. This evil entity takes the form of what its victim fears and most commonly takes the form of Pennywise the dancing clown. The Losers Club are terrorized by the evil entity and have to face their fears and defeat it before more children in their town go missing.
The remake surpassed my expectations. I saw the original “It” mini-series when I was younger and it scared the daylight out of me. I was worried that the modern version would not be as dark or scary, but I was wrong. The first ten minutes of the movie left the crowd and I speechless. The movie did not hold back on any of the violence as it was graphic and disturbing at times. Modern horror movies hold back and don’t show as much violence, so it felt very shocking and new when certain graphic scenes occurred. The movie is an adaptation of the Stephen King book “It” and while the movie was two hours long, it wasn’t enough as the movie is only half of the book. That being said, the movie had a steady story that didn’t feel too rushed or slow. The movie did a fantastic job introducing the stories for each member of the Losers Club as well as their encounter with It. Each person had a different fear which kept the movie intriguing because it has the audience wondering what the evil creature is going to take the form of.
The thing that makes the movie stand out is the phenomenal cast. Each actor did an amazing job portraying their characters. The actors were able to make the kids relatable and have unique personalities. My favorite character was Richie who was played by Finn Wolfhard. Richie was always quick to crack jokes that made the theater erupt in laughter.
One of my biggest concerns going into the movie was if Bill Skarsgård was going to live up to the role of Pennywise. I was surprised and pleased at how Skarsgård was able to take the character of Pennywise and add his own twist. Skarsgård had big shoes to fill as Tim Curry who previously played Pennywise became a horror icon for his role. Skarsgård didn’t disappoint as his version of Pennywise is a lot darker than the original version of the Pennywise from the 1990’s mini-series. Skarsgård’s Pennywise gave an eerie feel as his eyes were constantly moving in opposite directions.
Although Pennywise’s eyes were a very unique effect, at times his eyes were too far apart and made it hard for the audience to take him serious. Another thing that took away from the serious tone was the humor. Certain parts of the movie were full of suspense and terror only to be killed by random jokes. Although the jokes were funny and made everyone laugh, they took away from scenes that could’ve made the movie a lot scarier than it was.
All in all, “It” will surpass your expectations with a great story, phenomenal characters, and terrify you with Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Despite the humor taking away suspense, “It” is still a fantastic horror movie that is perfect to see with a group of friends.
- Rated R
- 2h 15ma
- Adventure, Drama, and Horror movie
- “It” is part one of the two part series with part two coming in the future
