Movieman Madness: Cinema Spotlight VII - Andrés Muschietti (Part 2): "It"

Two weeks before production on It began, the movie's original director, Emmy-award winner Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation & True Detective) left the project due to creative differences and studio disagreements. When news reached Andy Muschietti, he immediately jumped in for the opportunity, having been a lifelong Stephen King fan and read It in his early teens. The studio gave him five days to come with a pitch, and in those five days he re-read the novel, utilized Fukunaga's script, presented his pitch, and the rest was history.

Welcome to Derry, Maine. Population: Putrid and unpleasant. The town's seemingly handful of decent people are a group of kids known as the Losers Club. Bill (Jaden Lieberher from St. Vincent) the leader, Ritchie (Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things) a foul-mouth rascal, Stan (Wyatt Oleff from Guardians of the Galaxy) a neurotic Jewish kid, Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) a germaphobe, Michael (Chosen Jacobs), a home-school outsider, Beverly (Sophia Lillis), the resident tomboy, and Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor) the new kid on the block. Each are an outcast in someway, and tormented by the town's residents (for some their own parents). Each have come across of some manifestation of their worst fears, followed by a creepy clown called Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) who seems to be responsible for all the town's terrors, including Bill's missing brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott).

The Losers Club in the 1990 miniseries.

I didn’t grow up watching the 1990 mini-series but from the few clips I've seen, I can see why Tim Curry's portrayal of Pennywise is widely iconic. Suffice it to say, nostalgia won’t play a role here as it will with many who grew up with the first adaptation.

Where the book and mini-series took place in the fifties, this version is set in the eighties lending to a lot of nostalgic memorabilia from familiar boy bands, arcade games and movie posters.

I haven't read much of Stephen King's work, but I do remember a saying he said when discussing the horror genre, “Horror movies do not love death, as some have suggested; they love life. They do not celebrate deformity, but by dwelling on deformity they sing of health and energy. By showing us the miseries of the damned they help us rediscover the smaller joys of our own lives.” In that aspect, Muschietti succeeds in conveying that in his movie. Amidst the scares and atrocious actions, It balances with enough light as shown with the Losers Club.

Horror films usually go for the straight-up shock appeal but lack compelling characters and a decent script. One can view this movie with the same mentality but what makes It stand out are the likability of the characters and the driving force of their friendship. The bond they share is genuine and despite some juvenile activity, you root for them that they'll make it out alive.

Adding to the terror is that they are children. You fear for their safety especially when they are all what stand in the way of the demonic Pennywise played by an unrecognizable Bill Skarsgård channeling The Joker, Scarecrow and Freddy Krueger. Pennywise basks in the pleasure of terrorizing its victims; a creature that can't be reasoned, and whose only purpose is to consume. If that wasn't bad enough, the monster is only visible to kids while invisible to adults. A technique that Muschietti applied with Mama along with how ordinary humans can be more unsettling and monstrous than the monster itself.

Where Mama made us feel sympathy for the titular monster, the empathetic monster here is not Pennywise but Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) one of the teenage bullies who gleefully torments the Losers Club. The kid is portrayed as beyond redemption but when you see his home life you can't help but feel sorry for the kid; making it more tragic when all that's left of him is a sick and sadistic warped mind.

Deleted scene featuring Stan's speech, while cutting to the Losers Club.

The characters is where Muschietti falter's a tad bit. Micheal is the one member of the Losers Club who has the shortest amount of screentime, leaving him a little underdeveloped. Stan and the parents of Billy also have the same problem and could have benefited from the deleted scenes that were cut. One bully is introduced and one thinks they will play a part in the story, but nothing comes of it. Perhaps the sequel will expand on said character? The whole population of Derry when it comes to the adults has a miserable and revolting vibe that I don't remember one nice grown-up. It's suggested that they may know about Pennywise, and is the reason why the town is the way it is, but it's never fully explored. Maybe the mini-series and novel go into more detail? Again if a sequel is made, this better be touched upon. There is also the classic friends argue, break-up, and make-up by the end. The presentation is rushed and would have helped with at least a few shots of their reactions when they gets the news that one of Losers is kidnapped.

Billy's dad (Left) & Stan's Dad (Right in the corner).
Not awful parents but we never see them show signs of affection.
A deleted dinner scene and alternate ending, does show Billy's parents in a positive light.

Adapting a book over a thousand pages into a two hour movie is no easy job, and to Muschietti's credit, what he does manage to squeeze in, is very effective.

It is a story of facing the boogeyman whether real or imaginary, you don’t have to face alone. Amidst the ghastly and ugliness that the characters endure only makes the end result uplifting. For someone who is a fraidy-cat with this type of material, I didn't expect to read so much into it. Not bad for a film with a demented dancing clown.

Months before its premiere date on September 8th, 2017, the teaser trailer broke records as the highest viewed trailer of all time on YouTube (it wouldn't be dethroned until Infinity War, Endgame, and The Lion King [2019]). Stephen King saw the movie months in advance twice and gave it his seal of approval; commenting his surprise on how well Muschietti and his team handled his work. To say the movie was well-received by both critics and audiences would be an understatement. It broke records as the highest grossing horror movie of all time, the fourth highest grossing R-rated movie, and the seventh highest grossing movie of 2017. Muscietti's It was hailed as one of the best Stephen King adaptations, so much so that it paved the wave for more Stephen King movies from Pet Semetary, and Doctor Sleep. With Chapter One having been told, and the box-office revenue looking good, chances of the next chapter seemed very high.....

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