Horror Stephen King's "IT" Part I and Part II

[Arachnerd]

Might be on the minority on this, but I don't exactly find Tim Curry's Pennywise 'scary'. More hilarious than anything.

I like Bill Skarsgard's take on the character. It just seems like they haven't used him to his full potential (plus the jumpscares certainly didn't help). Like, I'm actually surprised the lazy eye thing isn't CGI and something he can do on command.

 

[Schlosser85]

In Chapter 1 Skarsgard really didn't get much to do actually as an actor, as opposed to just looking creepy under tons of makeup and/or CGI, apart from his opening scene with Georgie.

 

[Nardz937]

I liked his monologue against the kids when he had Bill at the end of the first film, but yeah I wish he got more time to verbally interact with the kids. That's what I loved about Curry. His verbal taunts and quips.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I am in the crowd the prefers Skarsgard to Curry. Don't get me wrong I love Tim Curry in the miniseries, but like somebody else said he comes off as more silly than anything. Which is definitely intentional as that was a funnier version of the character, but I just found him scarier in the movies

 

[Schlosser85]

I liked his monologue against the kids when he had Bill at the end of the first film, but yeah I wish he got more time to verbally interact with the kids. That's what I loved about Curry. His verbal taunts and quips.

Skarsgard’s best moments are the opening with Georgie, mocking Eddie’s asthma and crying in the scene where he comes crawling like a contortionist out of the fridge and the subsequent confrontation with Bill (“this isn’t real enough for you Billy? It was real enough for Georgie!”) and the freaky ass dance he does before showing Beverly his deadlights.

He’s super freakish, but Skarsgard’s acting takes a backseat to effects and such too often.

 

[Finarfiniel]

As a huge fan of the book (and of Stephen King's whole literary multiverse) I have pretty mixed feelings on Part 2, but overall I really enjoyed it and I'm definitely glad that these films were made, I maintain that they're still vastly better adaptations of the book than the 90's mini-series. My review will focus mainly on my reaction to the film as a fan of the source material.

Firstly, as to the length, yeah it's a very long film but I can't say I really felt it until near the end. The final battle just dragged on for way too long, IMO. And it wasn't even faithful to the book to make up for it. No macroverse, no Maturin, the Ritual of Chud was different, no revelation that It is actually female and pregnant, no destruction of Derry... It just deviated far too much from the book to be satisfying to me. But I feel there were an awful lot of positives too:

Spoiler

- The casting of the adult Losers was just top notch, they all matched their child counterparts so well that it was almost freaky at some parts, I genuinely bought that the children and the adults were indeed the same people throughout. The highlights were definitely Bill Hader as Richie and James Ransom as Eddie, the latter of which I feel is not getting nearly enough credit for his performance. Eddie's death (and Richie's reaction to it), even though I of course knew it was coming, was legitimately heartbreaking. The whole adult group had great chemistry and played off each other really well, just as the kids did before them.

- Speaking of underrated performances, Bill Skarsgård is genuinely fantastic as Pennywise in this, even better than in Chapter One. The best scene in the movie by far is the scene with Pennywise and the little girl under the bleachers, that's the closest to book Pennywise we have ever seen in live action to date, disturbing and manipulative to a tee, playing on the little girl's fears of rejection because of her appearance to bait and lure her in. Chilling. Skarsgård is a great actor.

- Beverly and Ben ending up together. I love their relationship in the book so much, and being a big fan of book!Ben I was worried that the film would deviate from the book and go for the more standard and expected ending of Beverly and Bill ending up together, so I was really glad to see them stick with the book on this one. I'm a hopeless romantic, so sue me.

And now for the biggest negatives:

Spoiler

- I echo what others have said in here that the film focuses so much on the Losers that Derry itself becomes almost a non-factor. One thing the book does insanely well is set the town itself up as a character in the narrative. Derry exists because of It, the town is the creature's killing field and It's influence is everywhere and in every resident. That whole element doesn't translate to the film whatsoever which is a shame. Derry could be anywhere, any small town in America because it loses it's personality in translation. Leaving out the destruction of the town at the end was a big part of that, it serves a very important narrative purpose in the book because it shows that It is really dead this time, It's influence has finally left the town and Derry collapses in on itself and starts to die as a result.

- Seriously, what was the point of Henry Bowers being in this movie? He's an extremely important character in the book (being almost as much of a threat to the Losers as Pennywise/It is at points) so I understand why they wanted to keep him in it, but his role just ended up feeling completely extraneous. When a side plot can be lifted from a movie completely without making a damn difference to the main story or the outcome, what really is the point of including it? As good as the actor was, all his story did was add to the run time and interrupt the flow of the main plot. They should have just said that he died following the events of the first film and was posthumously blamed for the child deaths and disappearances and been done with it.

- Related to the above, why on earth did they bother including the characters of Audra and Tom at the beginning of the film for neither of them to ever be mentioned again? Again, what was the point? The whole purpose of the characters being introduced in the adult part of the book (other than add to the characterisation of both Bill and Beverly) is that they end up becoming important to the plot later on, but that never happens here so including them again feels ultimately pointless. I must admit though, Eddie's wife being played by the same actress as his mother in the first film did give me a laugh though. Eddie does admit to himself in the book that he's ended up marrying his mother, so it works.

Overall, one thing I think Muschietti did really well in these films, whilst they may not be completely accurate adaptations, is echo the general nostalgic feel of King's book and maintain the idea that the horror element of the story, whilst undoubtedly important, isn't really the ultimate point. 'It' is ultimately a story about love and friendship and coming of age, the power of memory and the influence of childhood on who we end up becoming as adults. That's something I feel translated well, so while I'm disappointed that the films deviated so much from the book at some points, I'm still very glad overall that they were made and will revisit them often.

 

[Pennywise]

I also prefer Skarsgård, but I also love Curry!

 

[Nardz937]

I do love both of them.

 

[Drizzle]

I enjoyed this quite a bit. Not as good, scary, or tightly edited as the first film but still pretty damn good.

Spoiler

The cast really carried the film, with the standouts being Bill Hader and James Ransone. I also liked that Mike was given a larger role in this compared to the first film as well as him being sidelined for the finale in the book. This time around Ben seemed to get the short end of the development stick out of the Losers club (not counting Stan, of course).

Some of the best scenes for me were Pennywise under the bleachers and Beverly encountering Mrs. Kersh. I was not expecting that at all...

Like the first film, I left many expectations from book at the door because setting the story 30 years after the book throws things off a bit, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much Muschietti went back and adapted from the kids part of the book, like Paul Bunyan and the clubhouse. Granted, that came at the expense of using awkward de-aging CGI on the kids but it is what it is.

I'll chime in with the consensus that it was a bit too long. It also did seem a bit too funny at times, with some pretty jarring tonal shifts. The most blatant one to me was during the scene where adult Eddie encountered the leper and "Angel of the Morning" played for 5 seconds during the puke moment...why? Did the movie think it was Deadpool for a moment or something? Bowers stabbing Eddie also felt a little too comedic for me but Ransone still sold it anyway.

I'd be all for a supercut of both films from Muschietti.

 

[Doctor Jones]

This was okay. Too ****ing long and that second act dragged. I actually liked the last hour though.

 

[Rorschach2012]

You guys can hate away, I thought Skarsgård did a bad job. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I don’t think he’s good. Will Poulter would’ve been better.

 

[kickass]

You guys can hate away, I thought Skarsgård did a bad job. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I don’t think he’s good. Will Poulter would’ve been better.

I think he’s really good, but I will agree I think he’s overrated in the role. Really besides the subtle eye thing, I think almost anyone could play this part and we’d get the same effect. He doesn’t really do anything special with the role. His laugh isn’t even that good lol.

 

[kickass]

Didn’t think the movie was that good to be honest. Thought it was too long for its own good and brought in characters too pointless to contribute to the consequence of the story. That note left behind at the end was such a garbage move. And that restaurant scene was ridiculous with the chair and not a single employee calling security or the police on them lol. Riiiiiiiiiighttttttt.

The film would have been more griping had the urgency of everything not be dragged out for so long and then lose all its stream halfway through the film. The climax itself is pretty anticlimactic (although I love seeing pennywise in his final moments because it looked so uncanny and creepy). Besides that, the scares come off as goofy and TV’s Goosebumps level scary.

Pennywise under the bleachers and the spider-head and deadlights were the best parts of the film. Just goes to show a good cast cannot save a sluggish film.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I also prefer Skarsgård, but I also love Curry!

Curry was never scary to me, and honestly neither is Skarsgard. But unlike Curry's, Skarsgard's comes off like the Joker for me. There is a level of gravitas to him that makes him incredibly intriguing. I want to see what he is going to do next. The issue is, he doesn't get to do his thing all that often.

My favorite Pennywise moments are:

- In the sewer with Georgie.
- The refrigerator bit with Eddie/"I'm not real enough for you Billy". The bit when he starts fake crying along with acting like he going to bite off Eddie's arm gets me every time.
- Showing Bev the Deadlights.
- Arm chewing for Mike.
- The fight with the Losers' Club.
- Mocking Richie in Chapter 2.
- Face peeling.
- Under the bleachers.
- Pretty much everything he does in the final act of Chapter 2.

The more Skarsgard there is in the performance, the better.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I am watching Dark Phoenix right now for the first time, and it just occurred to me I am watching two movies in the same weekend involving McAvoy and Chastain. These two can't escape each other.

No points for guessing which one is better.

 

[Pennywise]

Curry was never scary to me, and honestly neither is Skarsgard. But unlike Curry's, Skarsgard's comes off like the Joker for me. There is a level of gravitas to him that makes him incredibly intriguing. I want to see what he is going to do next. The issue is, he doesn't get to do his thing all that often.

My favorite Pennywise moments are:

- In the sewer with Georgie.
- The refrigerator bit with Eddie/"I'm not real enough for you Billy". The bit when he starts fake crying along with acting like he going to bite off Eddie's arm gets me every time.
- Showing Bev the Deadlights.
- Arm chewing for Mike.
- The fight with the Losers' Club.
- Mocking Richie in Chapter 2.
- Face peeling.
- Under the bleachers.
- Pretty much everything he does in the final act of Chapter 2.

The more Skarsgard there is in the performance, the better.

Yeah, I was disappointed he didn’t get more screen time in either film.

Hopefully, he gets a few more moments in the supposed Super Cut if it happens!

 

[Pennywise]

I am watching Dark Phoenix right now for the first time, and it just occurred to me I am watching two movies in the same weekend involving McAvoy and Chastain. These two can't escape each other.

No points for guessing which one is better.

Duh, Dark Phoenix!

 

[Filmfan93]

Watched it yesterday.

Quite liked it. It actually improved upon the first film for me in some aspects (the scariness and supernatural element of IT's origin). I also didn't feel the length of the film. McAvoy, Chastain and Hader stole the show.

The last hour is one of the most intense and suspensful moments in a horror film ever!

 

[Schlosser85]

I am watching Dark Phoenix right now for the first time, and it just occurred to me I am watching two movies in the same weekend involving McAvoy and Chastain. These two can't escape each other.

No points for guessing which one is better.

They also played a couple in a bad marriage in some movie before.

 

[Schlosser85]

Is there anything the people who say Will Poulter would have been better are actually basing that on?

 

[Arachnerd]

You guys can hate away, I thought Skarsgård did a bad job.

Disagreeing with your opinion means we're hating on you?

Okay.

 

[terry78]

Is there anything the people who say Will Poulter would have been better are actually basing that on?

Not really.

 

[terry78]

I was trying to figure out what Ben's role really was in these flicks and he's pretty much the heart. He's the nicest and most earnest one of the group, even as an adult. The rest of them are nice but all kinda have their own personal **** that keeps them from being Ben level nice.

 

[Finarfiniel]

I was trying to figure out what Ben's role really was in these flicks and he's pretty much the heart. He's the nicest and most earnest one of the group, even as an adult. The rest of them are nice but all kinda have their own personal **** that keeps them from being Ben level nice.

I agree and that's taken from the book, Ben (as both a child and an adult) is the kindest and most unselfish of the gang which is the reason he's actually my favourite Loser. It's best shown through the Ben/Bev/Bill triangle, he's madly in love with Bev and always has been and he's perfectly aware that she has a crush on Bill, but even that doesn't bother him because he knows that Bill's a good guy and Bev being happy is much more important to him than his own feelings. He's the best. It's why Ben and Bev ending up together is so lovely to me, it's always nice to see the underdog win.

Oh, and I'm definitely throwing my weight behind Skarsgard in the whole Skarsgard v Curry debate. Both very entertaining performances, but the former feels a lot more like book Pennywise than the latter. Tim Curry is great , but he comes across more as a psychotic human dressed in a clown suit, whereas Skarsgard's Pennywise never seems human at all, he's very much more the bizarre, Lovecraftian entity that is trying to pass as a human but not really achieving it that It/Pennywise is in the book.

 

[Schlosser85]

Oh, and I'm definitely throwing my weight behind Skarsgard in the whole Skarsgard v Curry debate. Both very entertaining performances, but the former feels a lot more like book Pennywise than the latter. Tim Curry is great , but he comes across more as a psychotic human dressed in a clown suit, whereas Skarsgard's Pennywise never seems human at all, he's very much more the bizarre, Lovecraftian entity that is trying to pass as a human but not really achieving it that It/Pennywise is in the book.

I agree with this. Curry never really seems inhuman, whereas Skarsgard is just so bizarre and freakish just in the way he moves, like when he comes crawling all contorted out of the fridge.