Just saw IT! SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

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swiftdog2.0

I tell you one and one makes three...
Mar 16, 2010
7,095
35,344
Macroverse
Finally saw It.

"Meh" is the best I can say about it.

Time period shift was unnecessary.

Change in character back stories was pointless. Bev and Mike especially.

I don't know why Henry was even in the movie. Should have just eliminated the character altogether he did so little.

Pennywise was underwhelming.

Over reliant on jump scares and quick cut, J-horror jitteriness.

That said, it wasn't horrible. Maybe Chapter II will be better.
 

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
I mean it didn't suck, the acting was great especially in the main characters, I personally found the change in decades was unnecessary but they were creative for how that would affect the story. But I felt they could've made it closer to the book, My main complaint is one I have with the original mini-series too and that's there's too much use of IT's "Pennywise the Dancing Clown" form. Also they don't mention any of the dead lights or turtle stuff. I like all the mods to the interludes and stuff though. Overall I enjoyed this better than the 1990 one but it's probably a 6/10 for me
 

Mr Nobody

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2008
3,306
9,050
Walsall, England
Saw this last night. I'm kind of mixed about it. There were some nice touches/moments, especially among the boys when they're all together before Bev and Ben turn up. Certain bits of dialogue and the way they were with each other rang so true, as well as the not wanting to be shown up by a girl bits.
The scene with sunbathing Beverley and Ben knowing that liking New Kids on the Block (or Soft C***s with no C*cks, as they were known in my circle of 15/16 y.o. friends in 1988/89) was cringeworthy for a lad of his age were spot-on, and I could almost feel Billy's conflicting emotions on his behalf in the closing scenes, so strong was the appeal to (the memory of) the period of awakening desires and lovelorn youth.

One thing that gave a solid clunk was the updated setting. It had some of the trappings of 1989 but none of the feel. Compare that to Stranger Things: they put up the card saying '1983' and you look and nod and go 'Yep, 1983'. In their behaviour and some of their language, the Losers seemed to be stuck at least a generation before rather than being fellow Gen Xers (not that we called ourselves that back then; that tag was given to us by our Boomer parents and our grandparents' generation before them, X because we "believed in nothing and stood for nothing". To which we generally sighed and went 'Yeah, whatever' completely without irony :D). And in the UK at least, the BMX craze had been and gone by '89. That was much more an early-mid 80s thing. Some kids still had them, but not many and they certainly weren't close to being new (or they had, at the very least, ditched the mags).
Basically, instead of feeling like I could have been there or was looking in on contemporaries/close contemporaries (as is the case with Stranger Things), I was distanced from it. They were imposters. This wasn't a 1989 I could recognise. Had they called it 1979 or 1969, then...yeah, it wouldn't be exact but close enough.

I was surprised when Pennywise said "Beep beep, Ritchie" seeing as no one else had in the entire film (yet it was prevalent in the book). Then again, going back to the setting, anyone saying that would have been on the receiving end of a number of comments ridiculing their childishness where, a generation previous, they perhaps wouldn't. To that extent, I was glad it had been snipped, though it only made the use by Pennywise that much more incongruous.

All in all, though, it was decent enough. Perhaps a bit too heavy-handed in places, and as with most horror now too reliant on mono-paced jump scares (seen one, you can time them all), but still one of the better horror offerings recently in that at least it had some atmosphere. A lot have the build-up in the soundtrack, but no tension or sense of threat from the screen.
Performances were generally good, too, but the stand-out was Sophia Lillis as Beverley. If she carries on like that she'll be a star.
 

Klerekast

Human Magpie
Apr 30, 2015
322
2,095
37
The Netherlands
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. :welcoming:
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
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. :welcoming:
I agree with you about Sophie. Her acting is stellar in this movie. Unfortunately, the Oscar voters didn't think so and therefore she didn't get nominated for the award. She deserves it!!
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
pennywise-or-not.jpg
 

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
One other trivial complaint I forgot to add in my critique, I hate the fight scene at the end, hate it, hate it, hate it. I get that they weren’t doing the stuff with Maturin and the Deadlights, so the ritual of chuud wouldn’t make any sense. But I hate how instead of engaging in a trippy psychic battle of wit and courage against IT in the form of a gargantuan spider, they just beat the shiz out of him with a baseball bat. It just makes IT, an almighty being of immense power, seem like a joke to be physically bested by some preteens with a bat. I know it was supposed to show them “beating their personal fears” and what not, but it just looked so stupid.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
One other trivial complaint I forgot to add in my critique, I hate the fight scene at the end, hate it, hate it, hate it. I get that they weren’t doing the stuff with Maturin and the Deadlights, so the ritual of chuud wouldn’t make any sense. But I hate how instead of engaging in a trippy psychic battle of wit and courage against IT in the form of a gargantuan spider, they just beat the shiz out of him with a baseball bat. It just makes IT, an almighty being of immense power, seem like a joke to be physically bested by some preteens with a bat. I know it was supposed to show them “beating their personal fears” and what not, but it just looked so stupid.
I agree.
 

DiO'Bolic

Not completely obtuse
Nov 14, 2013
22,864
129,998
Poconos, PA
Finally watched the new ‘It’ movie. It was an okay film... not that bad overall. But IMO It lacked the it factor. Pennywise never came across as a clown to me, and seemed too young. Also… I just couldn’t connect with any of the actors in their roles, except for the character of Bev. I guess I was just hoping for so much more with all the hype it received.
 

GeorgieFan2003

Bill and Georgie Fan
Sep 17, 2017
1,376
4,480
40
Finally watched the new ‘It’ movie. It was an okay film... not that bad overall. But IMO It lacked the it factor. Pennywise never came across as a clown to me, and seemed too young. Also… I just couldn’t connect with any of the actors in their roles, except for the character of Bev. I guess I was just hoping for so much more with all the hype it received.

Thanks for sharing your opinion, I personally enjoyed the film but we are all entitled to our own opinions regardless if anyone agrees with them.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
Finally watched the new ‘It’ movie. It was an okay film... not that bad overall. But IMO It lacked the it factor. Pennywise never came across as a clown to me, and seemed too young. Also… I just couldn’t connect with any of the actors in their roles, except for the character of Bev. I guess I was just hoping for so much more with all the hype it received.
I can understand that. I went into it with very low expectations and was guarded because of all the unwelcome changes made. In the end, I didn't mind so much. It was a different angle, a different perspective. This film succeeded in one area, if nothing else- it shows a believable bond between the kids. That is difficult to do in a two hour film. The storylines are compressed, to say the least, but it ended up creating a vibe approaching that of the much beloved Stand By Me. I was impressed with the opening sequence, too. I don't understand why someone doesn't adapt this book as a limited series since there is so much to cover. Given the success of so many Netflix series and films, I'm hoping Boone chooses this route for The Stand.