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A review by gamefroggit
It by Stephen King
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A strange one. IT was certainly a journey, a long one, quite slow and quite deliberate - perhaps too deliberate in places for its own good.
Derry feels tremendously alive even beyond the creature that dwells there, the goings on and its people often feel quite real amidst the fantastical and bizarre events that call Derry home. To benefit and break the story however, the town and its people are so assured that the creature that stalks them falls back from monster status, as some of the human inhabitants of Derry, and the world itself, are far more terrifying in a far more real manner. The great antagonist, almost akin to its presence in the book, is more on the sidelines, poking ITs head in far too often to make sure we know it's there rather than pulling strings in more meaningful ways in the background. For a being that boasts to cement fear for a day job, ITs sorely lacking.
The people though and the realities the kids of Derry face, now that sure is unsettling. There is an uncomfortable reality in Derry, not one that a scary clown had anything to do with. Ignorance, abuse, misfortune, are all too abundant with many victims to suffer and those to inflict it. The reality of not ever really knowing beyond the surface of someone, or something, and all the strange ways we come about them stands clear, backed up by our cast of abusers, victims and spectators. This is where the horror of IT truly shines.
The characters feel quite pulled along, points are elaborated too much in cases, and the true scale of the events of IT feel a bit at odd with the perspective forced upon the people who witness them on one side of the coin. The other is a solid world, one that has a heartbeat and all the horrors that accompany it, and some poor souls trying to find their way through it. It doesn't all quite add up into one clean adventure into the dark, but there are some satisfying, and uncomfortable stories to pull from IT and its playthings.
Derry feels tremendously alive even beyond the creature that dwells there, the goings on and its people often feel quite real amidst the fantastical and bizarre events that call Derry home. To benefit and break the story however, the town and its people are so assured that the creature that stalks them falls back from monster status, as some of the human inhabitants of Derry, and the world itself, are far more terrifying in a far more real manner. The great antagonist, almost akin to its presence in the book, is more on the sidelines, poking ITs head in far too often to make sure we know it's there rather than pulling strings in more meaningful ways in the background. For a being that boasts to cement fear for a day job, ITs sorely lacking.
The people though and the realities the kids of Derry face, now that sure is unsettling. There is an uncomfortable reality in Derry, not one that a scary clown had anything to do with. Ignorance, abuse, misfortune, are all too abundant with many victims to suffer and those to inflict it. The reality of not ever really knowing beyond the surface of someone, or something, and all the strange ways we come about them stands clear, backed up by our cast of abusers, victims and spectators. This is where the horror of IT truly shines.
The characters feel quite pulled along, points are elaborated too much in cases, and the true scale of the events of IT feel a bit at odd with the perspective forced upon the people who witness them on one side of the coin. The other is a solid world, one that has a heartbeat and all the horrors that accompany it, and some poor souls trying to find their way through it. It doesn't all quite add up into one clean adventure into the dark, but there are some satisfying, and uncomfortable stories to pull from IT and its playthings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Pedophilia, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, and Sexual content