So, after all this time, 4 months after release, I finally managed to watch the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s epic horror novel, “It.” Now, the last well known adaption was ACTUALLY not a movie, it was a mini series and it was quite excellent. I adore Tim Curry to begin with and his Pennywise has always been an epic force, especially knowing that he was allergic to the make up and terrified of clowns himself (according to the internet).
First, I think that Bill Skarsgård was an amazing choice for Pennywise – he suited the role fantastically and his facial control and expressiveness was right up there with Tim Curry’s (which I say reluctantly). I felt that it really did him a disservice for the make up applied to be SO over-the-top and explicitly menacing and the significant amount of CGI enhancement that was applied. The make up on our “original” Pennywise was a stroke of genius because Tim Curry could be a happy, harmless clown and then a second later, be scary and menacing. Our new Pennywise could never pass as harmless and happy.
The kids were amazing. I thought they were absolutely fantastic and I especially adored Beverly. They were awkward and sincere and they really sold the fear, weirdness, and earnestness of the Losers’ Club.
The rest of the acting was… disappointing. Especially memorable disappointments were Beverly’s father, who I’m sure was supposed to be menacing, over bearing, and sexually creeptastic, but came off as absent, hollow, and… leaden.
The same was true of Eddie’s mother. I DO get the sense, though, that it was not the actors – it feels like this was an intentional direction they chose to go in.
The story, of course, was entirely different, but that wasn’t surprising. This one promised to be a lot closer to the original book and we all knew the miniseries deviated greatly. I actually thought the story line and writing was really enjoyable. My biggest complaints were the new-style, CGI effects that just seemed over-bearing and jarring. I’m not sure they’re as apparent to everyone else, so it might just be me.
I’m hoping that with a little more distance I’ll grow to like it more and I really am looking forward to seeing Chapter Two!
I am SO relieved to have enjoyed Bill Skarsgård’s performance so much and I really hope they capitalize on it more in the next one!