The Sunday Mail
YOU know you have a good horror flick on your hands when you can scare the bejeezus out of grown men.
That was my biggest takeaway from Warner Brothers’ latest offering and box-office hit “It”, a movie I repeatedly tried, with little success, to get some of my colleagues to watch. Apparently, the trailer alone was enough of a warning for them.
The movie, a remake of Stephen King’s 1986 novel and a reincarnation of the television miniseries and movie “Pennywise”, is one of the success stories of the year.
Opening at US$123 million, “It” has smashed all competition on the box-office and currently stands at US$631 million. All this from a budget of just US$35 million. Already, a sequel has been put on the books with September 6, 2019 tipped to be the release date.
“It” follows the trials of a gang of adolescent kids from the town of Derry, Maine, as they battle an unknown supernatural presence that is targeting kids and feeding off their fears.
The gang, known as the Losers Club, is made up of teenagers Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Stan Uris (Wyatt Oleff); who form the core of the gang but soon get joined by Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Taylor), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillies) and Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs).
The film opens with Denbrough, who gives his younger brother, Georgie, a paper sailboat. While playing with the boat in the rains, it falls down a drain, introducing us to the film’s antagonist, a clown by the name Pennywise — The Dancing Clown.
The clown then severs the boy’s arms and drags him down the drain. Guilt sees Denbrough become obsessed with finding the whereabouts of his brother, or at least his body, putting him and his entire gang in the crosshairs of the clown.
There are so many things that make this film such a hit, with the most important being simplicity. Firstly, it is set in the eighties and this almost immediately minimises any Computer Generated Images (CGI).
Admittedly, almost all of Bill Skarsgard’s scenes, who plays the clown, require some sort of computer work. The CGI at work here is simple, elegant and used in minimal portions. The plot is also short, simple and easy to follow — something we can all relate to. Who would not go to the ends of the earth for a younger or older brother?
The entire cast, both main and supporting, do a splendid job, particularly the young group of actors. Skarsgard, in particular, is a revelation in the role of Pennywise and almost rips to shreds Tim Curry’s portrayal of the clown.
The horror or sins committed in the film are very down to earth as the movie meanders on the fine line between fact and fiction.
The fears and bullying that these seven kids go through almost act as documentation of teenage life from body shamming, racial and sexual abuse all the way to just plain old physical bullying.
Nicholas Hamilton also deserves special mention for his depiction of Henry Bowers, the leader of the Bowers gang, who acts as secondary antagonist in the film.
They are responsible for most of the physical bullying that goes on in the film, acting as a unifying agent for the film’s seven main characters which makes them relatable in the eyes of the audience.
All in all, this film really lives up to the hype and I personally can’t wait for the follow-up in 2019.
