Review: Filmmakers of ‘It’ are not clowning about

Review: Filmmakers of ‘It’ are not clowning about

Joseph McDaniel

A Stephen King adaptation can go either way pretty fast — either it can be a cinematic masterwork like the “Shawshank Redemption” and “The Shining” or something terrible like “Dreamcatcher,” “Sleepwalkers” or the recent “Dark Tower” movie.

The novel “IT” is a thousand page journey into the twisted mind of someone on crack in the ‘80s and is a mix of great and terrible ideas.

The mini-series features a great turn by Tim Curry as Pennywise, but everything else doesn’t really hold up at all.

This new iteration, however, is way better than the book or the mini-series. This is mainly due to the fact that the story is actually focused. It doesn’t meander about randomly, and, of course, we don’t have to be tortured by mid-90’s TV effects.

The best thing here is the kids. Each personifies his or her role exquisitely.

The particular standout here is Finn Wolfhard as Richie Tozier. The audience was cheering at his awesome one-liners.

Bill Skarsgaard stars as Pennywise, both living up to Tim Curry’s legacy while giving us something fresh and effective. Even if one doesn’t find him scary, he or she will definitely be entertained regardless.

In terms of hindrances, most general audiences won’t be bothered by the use of jump scares and loud noises, but some might hope for something more aesthetically pleasing.

Also, some might be annoyed that the only minority in the film had most of the traits the character had in the original book given to a white kid.

But overall, “IT” is by far one of the superior Stephen King adaptations out there.

This film received an A-