It becomes clear right from the outset that this new adaptation of the Steven King classic is very strong and artfully made, and it comes as a very pleasant surprise to find that this standard is maintained throughout the movie. The 2017 IT is by far one of the best King film adaptations, largely because it is faithful to the source material but with sensible refinements for the big screen, but also it genuinely sounds and feels like Steven King (which is certainly not always the case in adaptations of his work). This 'childhood' section of the novel is here set in the 1980s (when the novel was first published), which gives it that essential nostalgia feel that was a feature of the classic King novels and also enables some great fun references, from the fun use of NKOTB to the bathroom fountain-of-blood puberty metaphor that echoes the first Elm Street movie. Direction and editing are creative and tight as a drum, sound placement and score are excellent, and the young cast is excellent, led by an impressive and truly engaging central performance by Jaeden Lieberher. The Pennywise here is perhaps less villainous than Tim Curry's version but more creepily unpredictable. As with most modern horror films, it is not particularly scary, but what the film evokes wonderfully is an enveloping sense of dread and the true horror of issues such as bullying, grief and physical/sexual/mental abuse. This is a robust, thoughtfully-made and immensely enjoyable movie - it can only be hoped that audiences respond strongly enough for the 'second chapter' (set 27 years later when the now-adult gang return to Derry to defeat Pennywise's next reign of terror) to be made, preferably with Muschietti returning as director.
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