Nolan McBride’s review published on Letterboxd:
IT is a great horror movie. It's full of solid characters and great drama and functions well as a story about the horrors of coming of age. The actors are incredible in their respective roles, but part of what's amazing is how little of the cast is made up of recognizable faces, with STRANGER THINGS' Finn Wolfhard likely being the biggest star. I think the two biggest breakouts are Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben and Sophia Lillis as Beverly, who are both warm, tough, and endearing as well as my favorite characters in the film. If I had one gripe about the characters, it's that Mike doesn't get much development or screen time. Bill Skarsgård has the unenviable task of following Tim Curry's iconic performance from the TV mini-series, which is probably the strongest aspect of that previous adaptation. That said, Skarsgård does a fine job as Pennywise, always unhinged and shifting between playfulness and sinister predator. The details of his performance and characterization are what sells him as this ultimate force of terrifying evil--the way his bottom lip hangs causing him to drool or his eyes shift colors as he switches modes or the times where you can see him remembering to present himself as a friendly clown instead of the shape-shifting child devouring entity he is. Another thing that really sells IT as a particularly horrific coming of age story is the adults--or lack thereof. Almost all of the adults that appear in the film are creepy, abusive, or negligent, at best. They turn a blind eye to what's really happening in Derry, but mostly they're just absent (at least as far as the main characters' own parents). My expectations going into IT were pretty damn high--probably too high. Even though most of my favorite horror ends up being smaller, more independent fare, I love seeing studios get into the big-budget horror game. You usually wind up with something a little more manufactured, but with bigger, more well-crafted scares that hit hard upon first viewing (and usually diminish with every return). While I don't get scared quite as often or as intensely as I used to, in the right conditions (usually alone at night, in the dark, with headphones) I can get in a headspace that allows me to have that scared-as-shit experience (or at the very least, creeped the fuck out). Based on the trailers and word of mouth, I really expected IT to scare the shit out of me. And while there's definitely some scary moments, they feel a bit too telegraphed. Almost every big scare is accompanied by cacophonous sound, a word I don't think I've ever needed to use in real life until now. Look, I'm all for loud, intense scares, but I wish the movie would have mixed in a couple more like one in the library involving a creepy, onlooking old lady. I'm also not saying the scares don't work, but the way they're crafted, you pretty much know when you should be scared and when it's okay to relax and its very emphatic, and I wish there was a bit more keeping me on edge and unnerved without tipping into "BE SCARED, MOTHERFUCKER" territory. Some of this extends to Pennywise--who, again, don't get me wrong, is great--who too frequently lingers for a moment before charging furiously at the screen. I should mention, however, that I fucking love his other forms, especially when he reveals his "inner teeth" and unhinges his jaw at a couple points. All of this is nitpicking, which is why I don't knock the film much for it (and which may play even better when I watch it alone at night), but it still played into my expectations and experience of the film. And not to have yet another digression, but it's worth mentioning that I don't judge horror movies *as horror* based on the effectiveness of their scares. Most horror movies don't scare me in the traditional way, and I am firmly of the belief that we need to annihilate the notion that "horror movie" = "scary movie" as a definition. Horror is so much more than just scary movies, which I mention because of all the idiots claiming IT is a psychological thriller and not a horror movie, which is a beyond dumb assessment of this movie about a shape-shifting clown monster that preys on children's fear and children themselves while keeping an entire town under its sway. Anyway, the scares are well-crafted, but didn't personally affect me in the way I'd expected or hoped. That's on me, not the movie, but it nonetheless affects my experience of it. I have a feeling this one will grow on me further with time and especially once the second chapter is out and I can watch both back-to-back.