re: IT(2017) ***SPOILER THREAD***

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Honestly...none of what you saw in the movie with the kids floating like that, or what they did at the end was part of the story. That's why it makes no sense...

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I went into this movie with an understanding that this was supposed to be seen more as a more modern adapatation of the book than a reenactment of it. And I actually did really enjoy it, even with the changes you mentioned in previous posts here. The ending was really the only major complaint I have about the whole movie.

I just don't understand why they thought they had to change the final encounter with Pennywise so much. I get that some people wouldn't have understood the whole Turtle/Other scenario if they didn't read the book, but for me that was one of the most interesting parts of the entire book. Along with the smoke hole chapter, this whole scene gives you a better understanding of exactly what the kids are up against. Instead of battling an other worldly being, they basically end the movie with a street fight against a clown.

I'm sure some people will say in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter as the end game is the same, and I suppose they may be right, but it just felt like a cheap way to go about it to me.

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I went into this movie with an understanding that this was supposed to be seen more as a more modern adapatation of the book than a reenactment of it.

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Without going into my pet peeve again in this thread about having great IP and then tossing it aside to do your own thing, I'll address the modern adaptation part only because I'm not hugely upset by that really. As a kid of the 80's (though I was in my freshman year in college when the movie takes place) I'm cool with any 80's nostalgia you throw at me.

While I think it would have been better all around to keep the time period from the book (I think it lends itself to the innocence of the kids, etc) I was ok with them moving it up in time. But...you could do that AND stick closer to the source. In the book, the kids tended to see Pennywise as variants of the monsters of their day. You got the Mummy, Mike thought he saw the giant bird because he was thinking of Rodan, they saw the teenage werewolf, creature form the black lagoon, Henry Bowers and gang saw Frankenstein's monster, etc. So a kid from the late 80's would have likely seen things that were scary for his generation...maybe some kind of Alien that brought to mind either the Xenomorph from Alien or Predator, maybe some variant of Leatherface or a serial killer type, etc. Know what I mean? I think that's an update of the source while staying true to it.

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I just don't understand why they thought they had to change the final encounter with Pennywise so much. I get that some people wouldn't have understood the whole Turtle/Other scenario if they didn't read the book, but for me that was one of the most interesting parts of the entire book. Along with the smoke hole chapter, this whole scene gives you a better understanding of exactly what the kids are up against. Instead of battling an other worldly being, they basically end the movie with a street fight against a clown.

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That, unfortunately, seems to be a time frame issue. One of the biggest losses for me was the loss of watching them become friends over the summer...building the dam and the dugout clubhouse, the smoke hole part where you actually get a vague idea of what It is. They essentially dropped The Barrens as a set piece entirely...damn near the entire book take place in the Barrens and never once was a fricking quarry even mentioned. Having them find out and have to fight him that way and then having to do it again but differently the second time as adults was so great in the book.

I realize I'm clearly the outlier here, as nearly every review I've seen seems to be more than ok with the changes and things which were left out. I'm not sure why, though. Given the length and density of the book, this seems so much like the Song of Ice and Fire series that was just impossible to do any sort of justice as a two part movie. I can only imagine the bitching that would have rightfully taken place had some studio done a 2 hour and 15 minute version of Game of Thrones where they not only left out most material due to time, but then changed most everything else about the characters so that all you were left with were familiar names and places.

The thing that bothers me the most about all this is that I HATE dumping on things. I generally like most things and really look forward to being entertained. Maybe had I not read the book I'd have enjoyed the movie, but even then I'm thinking I'd have had a hard time caring about the kids as they are 7 of them and get almost no individual screen time to learn about them so that you care when things get dicey.

I am kind of curious. Do people who did not read the book find the movie felt rushed at all or that they were missing tons of stuff that would have made actions on screen make more sense? Henry Bowers is an example of that. He's absolutely tortured by his dad in the book and you understand and even kind of feel for how fricked up he is and how he bullies the kids. He's nearly as big of a threat all book long as is Pennywise. Here, he's just a run of the mill a-hole and the one time we see his dad they've made him a cop who keeps him from shooting a cat and goes overboard about it. Then...boom, switchblade to the throat. Ugh...

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Let's not act like what happened in the book made any sense.

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Well...it made sense in the context of the story he wrote, though. But only if you include the smoke hole scene and you get an idea of what It is generally and you're open to the fact that it's much older, much bigger and much more mysterious than just a run of the mill monster. The stuff with the Turtle, The Other, the macroverse, etc may not be your cup of tea, but within the story once you see that this thing is much more than just some crazy clown it's alright. I'm not saying that King couldn't have come up with a better end game, but it was his endgame to come up with, if you know what I mean.

But yeah...if you're gonna leave out the smoke hole scene and never give the kids any idea WTF It might be than how they "defeat" it at the end of part one doesn't really matter. I assume they'll just make up some completely alternate stuff for what It is, how to defeat It, etc in part two.

BTW...I realize I sound like a fricking crazy person going on about this! I literally got out of bed last night because I couldn't sleep and was online looking at reviews to see what I'm missing here and still can;t see what anyone else sees here! haha

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The sound quality wasn't that good. And u couldn't hear the dialogue. The second viewing confirmed that

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I felt so too. I thought maybe it was just the theater I saw it in.

I enjoyed it more than the original from an overall story standpoint and acting but it wasn't nearly as scary. The projector scene was great however. I just wasn't a fan of ITs clown form. His forehead is way too big and makes him look "slow." Someone made a good point earlier in this thread that he needed to be more menacing and dark in his tone. The "Is this real enough for you" is more of what I wanted to see. Overall good movie but not the scary movie everyone built it up to be. I still need to see the new Annabelle movie.

It is psychic-reactive, like Ork Technology in WarHammer 40k
it works that way because you think it works that way.

Fear is powerful in manipulation but once your prey is past you need something else. so a group of kids, shape locking It into the werewolf was an easy victory since silver works.

In the movie the empty gun works at the end because Bill believes it will work along with the bat Ritchie pulls out and on and on...

Chapter II they'll fall prey to the secondary defense of It. Derry adults forget It and they'll have to relearn how to fight.

Chapter II we may see more the eldritch, the Ritual being the final solution instead of first win. It sucks Mike was down-played in the time skips here. Rogan will probably be given all of Bowers parts. Maybe see more Christine.


Edit: I'm not one to pick at downvotes but I gotta ask why I got one for explaining with It it really is clap your hands if you believe. Or for Orks pull the trigger for more Dakka.

Only civil war epics get intermissions. It's in the code somewheres.

Byron Bojangles III