So, it took me quite a while, but here are some of my thoughts on the new It movie. These are basically just some random thoughts, I don't write reviews since I'm too scattered to write a coherent (cohesive?) one. It may seem like these thoughts are all negative, but please don't let that fool you. I really did enjoy the movie. It just took me some time to appreciate it for what it is.
- Eddie and Richie seem to be everyone's favourite characters, but I honestly fail to see why. They are supposed to be "hilarious". It's probably just me, but I don't see it. I really don't like Eddie. I'm sure he's a nice kid, but this is not Eddie Kaspbrak. This "Eddie" is cool, spontaneous and almost as buzzy as Richie. Also, he's so dang frustrated all the time... Calm down, Eds. And yeah, Richie. His appearance is fitting, but there was no need to make him so. Terribly. Rude. Book Richie is blunt (and actually funny!), yeah, but never rude. This Richie is awfully rude. It really puts me off.
- No Für Elise on the day Georgie died? Surely that could have been added, easily.
- Sophia's acting in the bloody bathroom scene was MAGNIFICENT. I'm not a movie person, so usually I couldn't care less who gets which award, but wow, I really hope she gets an Oscar! I think Beverley was my favourite character anyway in the movie, she was fantastic. It's funny, because in the book my favourite characters from the Losers Club are Ben, Mike and Stan.
- I thought the movie felt rushed. Even the miniseries, which covered the entire story in three hours, felt less rushed than this. I didn't feel like we got to know the characters at all.
- Ben has problems with the library staff?
- Patrick Hockstetter was a completely different character than the way he is the book, but he really gave me the creeps, so at least they got that right... I'm not complaining.
- The lady with the flute was seriously creepy. Movie monsters usually don't creep me out, but she did. BIG TIME. I liked it.
- I can take it all, the blood and the teeth and everything, but shoot a sheep in the head and take a cat as a shooting target, and I will cry.
- I'm sorry to say this, but Henry Bowers was a joke. He has such an important role in the book, I didn't see any of this. When he killed his father it almost felt like they squeezed in it because they had to, while in the book, every action is part of something bigger. His mission to catch and kill these seven kids no matter what, was non-existent. He's really just a bully here, except of course for the part where he tried to shoot Mike.
- It didn't feel like It was part of Derry at all. It hardly felt like It was a constant (well, every 27 years) threat to the people of Derry, let alone that It controls the town (which it does, even during the quiet years). It was more like these kids had discovered some monster that just happened to be there. This was definitely better in the first movie.
- Same with the Losers Club. Mission? What mission? I hardly felt that. Especially because five out of seven didn't even want to go through with it. In the book they all feel It HAS to be stopped. Especially Stanley, despite being more terrified than anyone else, but in the movie he hardly plays a part. Same with Mike, what about him and his knowledge about Derry? I honestly don't get why they let Ben have all the fun with this. He has his own share. And what about the lucky seven? Where's the significance? They don't even mention that there's seven of them now when Mike joins them, or that they weren't complete before. This is too big to leave out.
- I absolutely LOVED the giant pile of strollers, dolls, children's bikes and wagons with the victims floating around it, very sinister. It was SO well done. And when they found Georgie's (real) yellow raincoat at the end, I actually gasped, even though it was probably predictable. I thought that was a very powerful moment.
- Bill shooting "Georgie" right after saying "I love you too"... That was intense.
- The scene with Beverly floating was also fantastic. It looked very creepy and unreal (in a good way), her eyes too. I think this pretty much captures what Bill must have looked like when he was performing the ritual of Chüd (except for the eyes maybe).
- The fighting scene was a bit pointless. Richie hitting Bill? Seriously? You don't just smack Big Bill. O___O To be perfectly honest I'm not too fond of the whole "big, beautiful, perfect Bill, our leader" thing, but book-Richie NEVER would have hit Bill (and Bill wouldn't have hit Richie in the first place, either).
- Gazebo.