A Project for Better Journalism chapter

“It” Movie Review

The new thriller “IT,” based on the popular Stephen King novel, has been terrifying viewers since its release. In the movie, when children begin to disappear, a group of kids face their biggest fears when they are put up against the evil clown named Pennywise, who has a history of murder and violence. In this movie, a group of seven young children are united through horrifying encounters with the clown and through their determination to take it down. After recent cases of disappearing children, these kids soon learn that the force behind this is not a human, but is a clown.

Many viewers were impressed with the director, Andres Muschietti and his ability to incorporate nostalgia, friendship, and fear into his movie. Of course, the most prominent character was Pennywise the clown, played by actor Tim Curry. Many people were pleased with his performance, as he gives a good “IT” face and makes it a very scary one.

Critics say the scenes become gory as characters are stabbed, impaled, and violently hurt. Though the rating is R, many teenagers have gotten a thrill out of the movie, although it may not be appropriate fora younger audience.

“It’s very scary, and not just in a jump scare way. I could feel my skin tingle in certain scenes as the clown would approach, and I generally love horror movies,” sophomore Manavi Rao said. “If you’re not used to watching scary movies, this probably isn’t the best movie to start with.”

Aside from being a nerve-racking movie, “IT” also brings up visions of problems that need to be addressed, such as violence, depravity, domestic child abuse, racial assaults, and so on. This could be another reason why the movie is deemed less appropriate for teenagers and more appropriate for a mature audience.

“Part 1 was great; there were some child actors portraying some in-depth characters facing the clown,” Rao said. “I found the ending to be a bit of a let down though. There were a few touching moments but I found it mediocre when it could have been much better.”

Although most audience members were overall pleased with the movie, there were some negative reviews about it. Some were disappointed that there could not be more graphics or violence, while others were disappointed that there was too much of it. Overall, the major letdown was the ending. The ending of the book was so bizarre, that many people claimed it is unlikely it would look good on screen. Many were discouraged with the poor ending instead of the big climax or finale that was expected like in the book.

The ultimatum of the movie is that “IT” made a unique twist to the job of bringing the scary Stephen King novel back to life.