MovieChat Forums > It (2017) Discussion > Beyond dreadful...

Beyond dreadful...


This was by far one of the most dreadful and disappointing movies I've seen in a long time. Over an hour of my life that'll never get back. lol

I have a lot of doubt and pessimism in horror films nowadays, and especially when it comes to remakes. And this film only confirmed that for me.

Just watching the trailer, I knew this movie wasn't going to be good. I don't know why, but somehow I just knew. The only reason I was forced to watch this movie, is because I was with a group of friends who badly wanted to see it. I tried entering this film with an open mind. I tried not to be so skeptical. But in the end, my gut instinct turned out to be right.

First off, I could care less for the character of Pennywise in this film. In the original It, Pennywise was creepy in a subtle kind of way. He looked just like a regular clown, but actor Tim Curry managed to give him a really sinister persona. The appearance of Pennywise in this film was just overkill. He looked more like a demon than a clown, which automatically steered clear of the premise of the original character.

Even 'the Georgie scene' was a disappointment. In the original, all we knew is that Georgie was obviously killed by Pennywise. The mystery behind Georgie's death is what made the movie in a way. But in this film, we see Georgie straight up get his arm ripped off and then dragged into the sewer. Yet again, more overkill. And also, the kid who played Georgie wasn't convincing or even likable compared to the original. And also, I liked how in the original, when Pennywise first meets Georgie; he at least puts in some effort to act friendly, and to persuade Georgie to stick his hand down in the sewer, which ultimately led to his demise. But in this film, Pennywise was just so evil looking, that it really took away all substance from the original scene. Like I said before...it was just overkill.

I didn't care for the actor who portrayed Pennywise. Even though he may be a great actor aside from this movie...nobody can outshine Tim Curry's evil clown character. Nobody!

The CGI of Pennywise was rather disappointing as well. And I absolutely hated all the jump-scares. The CGI and jump-scares is what made this movie seem like nothing more than a shallow remake, with a few cheap thrills.

I didn't like the fact that movie took place during the 1980's. For whatever reason, that really bothered me...lol. In the original film, it took place during the 1960's.

The overall cast of kids in the film was a letdown as well. They just weren't as likable as the original characters.

I think the film dragged on way too long, and all amounted to nothing spectacular. It got to the point to where I didn't even care anymore. And at times, it was just painfully boring.

I know there are a lot of people who will disagree with me. But you must understand, that I grew up watching the original It. Maybe if I never would've watched the original, I might view this remake differently. But with that being said, I just couldn't take this film seriously. It turned out to be nothing more than another disappointing remake.

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I liked it. I thought a remake was in order, as I went back to the original sometime ago to see if it was as scary as I remembered, and it was extremely dated and consequently not very scary. It needed darkening up and I felt this remake managed that fairly well. Could it have been scarier? Sure, but I found it entertaining enough and enjoyed the nostalgia trip that this evoked in me.

I reckon you make a decent point about the Georgie scene though, insofar as they could have done without showing Pennywise bite his arm off and reveal too much about his fate. That also set a precedent for how evil and malicious Pennywise was willing to go to hurt his victims, and had me wondering on countless other occasions why he was happy enough creeping the rest of the kids out as opposed to maiming them like he did Georgie.

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I watched the original right before going to see this when it came out and I too felt it was a bit dated and obviously made for TV. I think they did a good job bringing it to the big screen. The bit with Georgie , for me anyway, was done well. i always remember the original saying he was maimed etc...so seeing it worked for me.

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I just watched IT this past weekend with my DH, and we really enjoyed it! I will agree that it actually wasn't very scary, it was more of a world-building exercise than a fully finished horror movie. I think they needed to add some to the run time and really flesh out the characters a bit more. Overall, though, it was enjoyable, and Bill Scarsgard is amazing as Pennywise. His voice is so...playful, it just really throws you off when you first hear it, because you know he is super evil, lol. I love Tim Curry, but Bill was awesome as well, it was just a different take.
From what I've been reading, they are going WAY darker in Chapter 2, so Chapter 1 really was all about the set-up for Chapter 2. I would say I'm not sure that was the right decision, but the box office numbers pretty much spoke for themselves on that one.
I'm hoping that with the flashbacks in Chapter 2, we will get more character development so that we really feel the stakes when the Losers club comes back to Derry.

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‘In the original, all we knew is that Georgie was obviously killed by Pennywise. The mystery behind Georgie's death is what made the movie in a way”

Erm, no. In the original there is a scene where one of the Losers Club kids describes Georgie as having his arm torn off like the wing from a fly. We already knew what happened to him. They made that scene in the remake from a description given in the original.

Try watching the movie again. And wise up. Maybe the subtle undertones to a Stephen King plot aren’t for you?


TheCaretaker

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Pfff...give me a break.

I ain't watching that atrocity again.

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I watched it today for the first time and thought it was quite bad. As someone who's not familiar with the source material, I really had no idea what was going on a lot of the time. The pacing was awful. I was especially confused why the chubby kid had randomly done a whole bunch of research on history and missing kids in the town. That was all poorly explained with one line of dialogue where he says he was new to town and bored. Really? I find that hard to believe, but I also don't know what is in the book. I would have to assume that character is more developed in the book.

There were so many other bizarre plot elements I just didn't understand. For example, that one bully kid with the lighter and spray can who went missing in the sewer was never acknowledged again even though his friends were still part of the story. Did they just forget about him? Their gang was suddenly reduced to three and nobody said anything about it. I get the impression that this wasn't at all faithful to the book even though I have never read the book and have no idea myself.

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Completely agree, I've avoided this film until last night for the same reason - Tim curry was amazing as pennywise, just like you said, a normal clown but so sinister ( and why I'm now scared of clowns!) That's the whole reason he was so scary 🤡

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