Everything wrong with IT: Chapter One
IT: Chapter Two may be one of the mostly hotly anticipated horror flicks this year, but the first part of Andy Muschietti's adaptation of Stephen King's novel was far from perfect.
Although IT: Chapter One is undoubtedly enjoyable and gloriously nostalgic, it also has some glaring problems. Such as:
1) It's easy to escape Pennywise - just shut the door
One of the most annoying shots in the entire film is the resigned look on Pennywise's face when Bill (Jaeden Martell) escapes his clutches by fleeing the basement and shutting the door. Surely it's not beyond the remit of a demonic clown to follow Bill through said door.
Shit like this keeps happening. In the movie's homage to The Ring and Sinister, Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) emerges from the image on the projector, only to promptly disappear again when the kids open the garage door. No tenacity, this clown.
2) The heavy-handed Carrie callback
In what comes across as a clunky homage to Carrie, in early scenes we see Beverly (Sophia Lillis) sheepishly picking up tampons from the chemist. Following Stephen King logic, she is promptly showered with copious amounts of blood at the first opportunity.
We're not sure what's more annoying - the brazen semi-copying of an iconic scene from the same author or the implied assumption that all teenage girls have serious hangups about menstruation.
If this wasn't enough, Jessica Chastain is set to be submerged in record-breaking quantities of the red stuff in the sequel. Isn't it the guys' turn to be drenched with unrealistic amounts of blood?
3) The whole "you're fine as long as you're not afraid" schtick
It was kind of forgivable in Nightmare on Elm Street when Nancy defeated Freddy by turning her back on him - especially since he made a triumphant return in the final scene.
But there's something deeply unsatisfying about the fact that Pennywise straight-up dissolves just because the kids put on brave faces and give a nice speech.
Defeating the antagonist simply by not being afraid anymore is the sort of gloopy, sentimental nonsense that should be reserved for kids' films. It feels out of place in a movie where a preteen gets his arm bitten off and is dragged down a sewer in the opening scene.
4) Beverly is not a damsel in distress
The entire film tries to set Beverly up as one of the most capable and fearless members of the Losers' Club. So it seems out of place when all the boys have to rescue her in the film's climax.
The movie even goes full-on Sleeping Beauty when Beverly is awakened from Pennywise's trance by a kiss from Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), who she's not even that in to. The gender politics of IT are not exactly progressive.
We can just thank our lucky stars they didn't include the orgy scene from the original novel.
5) Apparently murder is fine in Derry
So at the end of Chapter One, Beverly kills her creepy father and Mike (Chosen Jacobs) kills psycho Henry (Nicholas Hamilton) in self defence by chucking him down a well.
Both of them definitely deserved it, but there are literally zero consequences. You'd think there'd at least be a court case.
We're hoping that Chapter Two can in some way clear this up, but we have our doubts.
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