It’s third and final opportunity for ‘it’ to make the list and I am ranking this version as the best of the three options. This is much better than the second half but that was always going to be the case with it being the meatier side of the story. While it has modern advantages of scariness and jump scares when compared to Tim Curry’s version of Pennywise which would of won easily if you could combine Tim’s Pennywise with the modern technology used to scare the pants off of everyone in this version. Released in 2017 apparently this movie was cobbled together on a budget of $35m but has a roaring success at the box-office with a return of $701.8m. Being the huge success it was it allowed the makers the opportunity to make the second movie and conclude the story. With that much more money in the back pocket you might expect the second to be better than the first. Which the general consensus was very different, as the scores for this one was much higher even gave this a 7.3 out of 10, while Rotten Tomatoes gave it 85%. (compared to 6.5/10 and 63%). The cast of this one, were a lot younger with Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, Jackson Robert Scott and Bill Skarsgård playing the main character of Pennywise (the Dancing Clown). This was directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman with the film being predominantly shot in Canada. The list of producers was nearly as long as the cast with Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg, and Barbara Muschietti. Onto the plot?
What I love about this version is that it is set 27 years after the mini-series so the original was set back in the 60s they then have Pennywise going into hibernation for 27 years and returning in the 80’s. This version has the old part of the story set in 80’s and then the second part and conclusion is set in current times. I love all that linking business which ties it together so neatly but that is not strictly the plot. There is a slight difference of the plot at the beginning which has a fundamental effect on the plot. This version begins in October 1988 Bill Denbrough crafts a sailboat for his younger brother Georgie who is six years old and Georgie then goes to sail the boat on the rainy streets of a small town in Maine called Derry. The sailboat falls down a drain and in attempting to retrieve said boat Georgie sees a clown in the darkness of the drains. He engages in conversation with the clown until Georgie wants his boat back so he reaches into the drain to get it. The happy smiley clown turned into a creature with sharp pointy teeth and becomes the first victim of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The difference between this version the book version and the mini-series version is that Georgie disappears so the following story is that Bill (the older brother) still thinks there's a chance he's alive and there is this hope that he is fine. Where in the book and the mini-series Georgie’s arm is ripped off and he bleed to death in the street. The closure in that version means the Bill becomes disenfranchised from his parents who are mourning his younger brother. He is also mourning his younger brother which then helps drive him into his new friends who all go through random experiences with different versions of Pennywise who in this version of the story is just terrifying. The group come’s together and form a bond or a friendship of seven children (six boys and a girl) who share the same experience of having a random encounter with a random creature that ultimately is Pennywise dressed up in a different version that terrifies them. Along with that confrontation with ‘it’ they also share a run in with the school bully who is Henry Bowers and his gang of bullies. Henry in this version of the story, is more vicious and callous and deadly compared to the mini-series version. In the book Henry is a nasty piece of work. I am trying to just paint a general view as I don't want to give too many spoilers away. But this group of ‘Losers’ form the Losers Club and go into offence and attach ‘it’.
There are plenty of jump scares in this version there are also just plain old scary spooky scenes throughout this really well worked. The point of a horror movie is to scare and to get adrenaline going and for me personally to have a really great story in there as well. ‘IT’ was always a great story from the pages of Stephen King to the mini-series starring Tim Curry if it was a good story it was a great story. It's very complex and probably too complex for the screen but these two efforts are good in terms of interpretation of the story. one concludes the story better than the other but one has a bigger personality in Pennywise. In this version the scares are there through and for me sitting in the cinema and landing on the ceiling at one stage, is a rare thing but it happened. The bill who plays Pennywise please that character in a completely different way than Tim Curry did but still it works and it works for him. This is great, this is enjoyable, this is fun, this is what the horror genre should be. If you haven't seen this movie, I would recommend that you do- even if you don't get around to watching the second half or chapter 2, as it is not as good as this one. This had to be good to generate the money to make the 2nd and it hit the nail on the head. Go enjoy.
Next on the list is a British comedy which upset many religious figures in the UK. It could be argued that this is the pinnacle of a particular comedy groups efforts to go, from the small screen to the big one...
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