It

Starring: Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgard, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Owen Teague
Directed by: Andy Muschietti
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of kids band together to fight an evil clown who is murdering children in their small town.

Review:

Tim: It was a box office smash in 2017, so I was immediately intrigued. I love Stephen King, even if the reality is that most of the films based on his writing haven't actually worked (Not to suggest they all haven't, because there are many great King adaptations). After watching this film, I understood why it did such great things at the box office- it's a truly great horror movie and one of the best Stephen King adaptations in a long time.

What surprised me the most is that it wasn't the horror elements that made this a great movie. Those were excellent, but it was the band of kids fighting for survival that made this film incredible. Who would have thought that the key to a horror film's success wasn't the scares as much as actually caring about the characters (hint, read basically any review I've ever written about bad horror movies)? Director Andy Muchietti does a wonderful job of allowing us to understand and care about these kids. I genuinely didn't want a single one of them to die. I was hoping and hoping that they'd all live, because they were so great. They were believable as friends- it never forced forced. They were funny, realistic, and the movie spent enough time with each of them so that we were able to form an emotional connection. That might not be rocket science, but most horror movies fail to do that, and it's very rare that one succeeds to this extent.

It certainly helps having a very strong cast. Jaeden Lieberher was in my favorite movie of 2016, Midnight Special and he once again delivers in an exceptional film. I'm excited to see what he does next because he's very talented for such a young actor. He has that everyman quality that will take him far. I have to mention Finn Wolfhard, because although I already loved him from "Stranger Things", he absolutely blew me away in this film. His comedic timing was impeccable and he was given all the greatest lines. He gives one of the funniest performances I have ever seen- he's helped by brilliant writing, but his delivery was perfect. He had me rolling with laughter throughout the film. I can't help but smile as I recall some of his great lines (the wishing well one, the hamburger helper, drawing the short straw). He truly elevated the film to a whole new level, stealing every scene he was in. I also enjoyed Sophia Lillis. I'd never seen her before, but her performance was really strong. The rest of the cast worked very well also.

I'm not sure I've ever written a horror movie review where I haven't even mentioned the scary parts until this late in the review. It's funny, because while those aspects were essential to this film, it really felt like they came secondary to the characters (which worked). Bill Skarsgard makes a very good Pennywise. I know people were over-the-moon about his performance. I don't think I was quite at that level, but he gave a very strong performance and he certainly made the film work. All the scares were effectively done- from the floating red balloon to the threat of danger, to the actual frightening moments with the killer clown, they worked. I wouldn't say It was incredibly scary, but it didn't need to be. It was just frightening enough to make us fear for the safety of the main characters. It accomplished exactly what it needed to.

I went into 2017 never expecting that It would make my top 10 list. That is pretty shocking, but this is easily one of the best movies of the year. This is so good, it helps alleviate a little bit of the pain of The Dark Tower being such a disappointment. Truly, this is one of the best horror movies in years.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



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