My Review of It Chapter One (2017)

 

Written by Chase Palmer And Cary Fukunaga And Gary Dauberman

Directed by Andy Muschietti 

Pennywise: "This isn't real enough for you, Billy? I'm not real enough for you? It was real enough for Georgie."

Just in time for spooky season and with the imminent arrival of prequel show, Welcome To Derry, I thought it was time to review Andy Muschietti's generally liked duology. It's been a while since I've looked at both films.

Opening in Derry, Maine in 1988, the villainous entity Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) took a young boy named Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott), causing guilt for his older brother, Bill (Jaeden Martell). Guilt that Pennywise would be happy to play on as the movie progressed.

Bill's a social outcast with aspirations for writing stories. He's also part of the Losers Club with his friends. His friends being shy overweight Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), foul mouthed Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), softly spoken Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), the sickly Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), pragmatic Stanley Uris (Wyatt Olef) and only girl of the group, Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis). That's our group of friends.

Throughout the first chapter, we see these kids dealing with high school crushes, abusive parents, means spirited bullies like Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) and encounters with some weirdos like The Leper (Javier Botet) to name but a few. All the while the group form a tight bond with each other and face off Pennywise himself.

Yup, the devious entity that looked like a clown but was far worse than any of them enjoyed tormenting every single one of the Losers Club. As a foe, he's delightfully vicious and Bill Skarsgard managed to imbue that ferocious menace into him in a different way to Tim Curry's performance in the 1990 miniseries.

Now if there's a flaw with this movie, it might be that it's too long for it's own good (a problem the second chapter also has). For the most part, it's an engaging version of the classic Stephen King but it also dragged in some parts. Saying that, the third act was pretty great and Pennywise got a satisfying enough comeuppance while setting up the second chapter in this saga.

- There's a creepy performance from Owen League as psychopath Patrick Hockstetter. 

- There's a lot of references to various WB/New Line movies such as Beetlejuice, Gremlins and Batman.

- Standout music: The Cult's Love Removal Machine and Maurice Starr's Please Don't Go Girl.

- Chronology: October 1988 before moving into summer 1989, Derry in Maine.

It Chapter One definitely deserves it's stellar reputation as it's a strong opener for this Pennywise adaptation. A lot of it was down to Bill Skarsgard and the young actors. It was also down to Andy Muschietti's directing as well and I do think some have forgotten his skill set as a director.

Rating: 8 out of 10