MovieChat Forums > It (2017) Discussion > Did you like the new Pennywise?

Did you like the new Pennywise?


There, I said it.

The movie is above average, even OK I might say, not as good as the first one, but had some fantastic moments. The kids were fantastic, all of them, better than the originial, but the clown ...
Oh my, the clown.

I didn't expect he will be like Tim Curry, but he was way off. His speech was weird, also his accent was off.

Also, hard to understand the reaction of the director to shut down and critise the original Pennywise. FFS, THAT performance was the reason this saga became so HUGE.

Anyway, how did you find the new Pennywise?

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I'll have to review the original 2 episode mini series cause I thought this clown (2017) was scarier.

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Skarsgård killed it...much more realistic to the true Pennywise

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I also got the feeling that he, and the movie, came closer to what Pennywise actually /is/ in the book. I don't remember the Loser's Club discussing it but that was my feeling.

The miniseries, no matter how much I like it, missed that mark.

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Yea I watched the miniseries too just now and the clown from (1990) felt more like a wisecracking freddy kruger rather then the predatorial clown we saw in the 2017 version. I'm sure the miniseries was handicaped by the fact that it was a network broadcast and by the injected humor horror movies usually had at the time. The new clown doesn't joke around as much, he just creeps up on you and attacks,

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I found Tim Curry's jovialness extra creepy. I read that the cast didn't like being around him on set because he stayed creepy throughout filming. I would have loved to see Tim Curry's performance unhindered by the requirements of 1990 network television, like, if it was done on HBO today. /That/ would have been a thing to behold.

For me, to really be gotten by a horror movie, I need creepiness along with horror.

As a flat out monster, the movie does it better. However, if a monster is always horrifying, is always "on", it doesn't really get to me past the first few times.

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I found Tim Curry's jovialness extra creepy.

Yea his nonchalant humour makes his acts seem more sociopathic but less dangours then the new pennywise but still effective in a differen't way. Heath ledger had the same effect on the cast around him.

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It's much better than the miniseries Pennywise. I saw the miniseries as a kid and even back then I thought it was pretty lame. This version was great. One of the best movies I've seen this year.

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I prefer the miniseries Pennywise to the movie Pennywise because its scarier to me. In the miniseries, he could go from an almost normal clown to It, which is more terrifying than a monster I can identify immediately, like in the movie. The miniseries It makes me think of John Wayne Gacy. I'd never have fallen for the movie It's benign-ish aspect, like Georgie did. As a kid, I would have for Tim Curry's. Like... people did for John Wayne Gacy.

That being said, I think the movie's Pennywise was closer to the book's and was done very well in that context. I enjoyed both versions.

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I think its your fears were amplified more as a child. Kind like for some reason I always remembered the Movie Alien(1979) being the scariest of them all but then again I was 9 at the time. Being a kid makes movies 3x scarier.

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I saw It as an adult... I'm 54. I wonder if knowing about the depths of human real life predators helped form my opinion. I already had an interest in true crime.

I just can't remember if, when it came out, I knew about Gacy... I am pretty sure I did. If I did, that would have /really/ added to my impressions of Curry's version. He was the "killer clown", as in did gigs as a clown ("Pogo the Clown"), along with being a prolific, and horrific, serial killer.

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yes

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Nostalgia is strong with you.

Literally everything about the new movie is better than the old one, and Pennywise in particular. The decision to make him more of a victorian looking clown as opposed to some kids birthday party looking clown was a great one. The performance was perfect as well.

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I liked that too...made him look ancient

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Yea I noticed the mini series clown had attractive coloring. I was like he's to cute to be a threat.

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The new Pennywise is superior to the 1990 one.

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I like this version better than Tim Curry's IT/Pennywise. Bill's seemed more like the book. Tim Curry just made the character (and miniseries) seem like I was watching an episode of Are You Afraid Of The Dark? or Goosebumps.

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Tim Curry did a much better job. He was actually scary because he looked like a real clown who could turn scary on a dime. This new one wasn't scary at all. Also, there was too much CGI.

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Curry is great he did an awesome job for a tv mini-series but his Pennywise in nowhere near the books

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The new pennywise is even further from the book, so stop saying it is closer to the book.

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Maybe the new penny wise is not exactly like the book but there are some similarities. In the book one of the comparisons is to Bozo the clown . I think George was thinking this. Anyway the face, hair, and clothes look similar to Bozo. Just a demented version. I found myself a 1966 bozo the clown doll and even though the color is different the style of clothes is the same as pennywise. The ruffles and pantaloon pants. The bozo doll has it too but with blue clothes. Same hairstyle too.

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