It
“This isn’t over if, if that thing comes back when I’m seventy.”
Undeniably charming at times but I felt pretty indifferent to this as a whole. Perhaps that has something to do with watching it all in one sitting instead of in its original two part form as I did undoubtedly enjoy the first half more. Though I do believe that most of the problems I have with this would remain no matter how spread out the watches were.
The first half is a lot more enjoyable in my opinion with most of the faults occurring due to poor acting or line delivery from the child actors, or the low budget and TV-14 rating keeping things relatively tame. Pacing wise this first section takes some getting used to, switching between the past and present as each one of characters is introduced, but I grow to like it and also respect them for going more by-the-book here. Once we’ve been given the time to settle into Derry I also can’t help but enjoy all of Pennywise’s shenanigans, the visuals for Ben and Eddie specifically are my favorite. It could just be the ninety’s TV vibe but a good chunk of this reminded me of Twin Peaks. Tim Curry really carries this on his back with his fantastic performance. It’s so tonally different from Bill Skarsgård’s performance that it’s not even worth comparing and they’re both great in their own ways. I really like the goofy charm Curry brings to the roll, it feels more authentic to how an actual clown may act.
The second half is a bit of a slog to get through in my opinion. All the performances from the grown up actors are also not super enjoyable, watching this version of Richie really gives me a deeper appreciation of Finn Wolfhard, and Bill Hader. We don’t get to see as many of the fun dream like sequences that are so enjoyable from the first section, although Tim Curry cracking jokes in the library is certainly a highlight. The ending leaves a little left to be desired, but is it better than bullying the demonic space clown to death? Maybe.
Honestly just glad to say that I’ve now seen every adaptation of It, and read about half the book, especially with my growing excitement of the tv series coming out in a few weeks. Really excited to see the possibilities of what a prequel series will be like, I’m hoping for some dark episodes, and isn’t it about time we see Pennywise catch a dub? 6/10
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