Trailer reactions are generally a Youtube thing. I do have a channel and one of these days I'm going to use it for something, but right now, we'll stick to text.
I'll admit my Stephen King coverage hasn't been what it was back in the Examiner days. I am working my way through "Bag of Bones", so it hasn't been completely forgotten, but I've been broadening my content into other areas of pop culture.
With the trailer for the new cinematic adaptation of "IT" hitting the internet yesterday, I figured this would be a good way to touch base and weigh in on some current Stephen King related news.
Right off the bat, you can tell that this adaptation won't be as narm-y as the 1990 TV miniseries. There is a much darker and more serious tone that I think fans of the book will appreciate.
It does have a bit of a "Stranger Things" vibe (I still need to check that series out, now that I mention it.) I have to think that it was unintentional given how production schedules work. At the very least, it's understandable, as the Netflix series was frequently compared to a Stephen King work. On top of that, both center on a group of kids in the 80's dealing with supernatural elements.
It is kind of interesting how there's no mention of the adult iterations of the Loser's Club. This is probably simpler. I do wonder if the "flashback" element will remain in place or whether it will just be a straight, linear telling of the events. At the very least, doing it this way will allow viewers to understand the characters' fear when they first get that call decades later.
Oddly enough, the most memorable part was the weakest element and that's Georgie. Seeing him run face first into that roadblock was funny and gives us at least one moment of levity, so credit for that. I wonder if this is going to be used to help explain his poor judgment when confronted by a clown lurking in the sewers. You could either argue that this is to indicate that he's kind of dumb or they could say that he's still woozy from the blow to the head, thus is disoriented and not thinking straight. Given how the trailer plays out, the latter is unlikely. I think it would have been an interesting angle, regardless.
"Spirit" Georgie, though, didn't work for me. His attempt to be scary fell flat. That's a subjective thing, so it's possible others are chilled by it. I just wasn't.
By and large, though, it seems like the child cast is on point. Granted, the trailer is more horror-centric, so we don't get to see the individual personalities or the bond all that much; but based on what we've seen here, I still have a good feeling about the cast.
Considering how thick the book is, I get why they're doing this as two movies. At the same time, people's tolerance for multi-part movies has diminished a lot in recent years. Couple that with the fact that the child portion of the story is generally stronger and it seems like part II will have an uphill battle. That's a bridge to cross later.
All in all, I thought that this was a strong trailer. It got the atmosphere down pat and gave us a hint as to what sort of Pennywise we're in for. It would have been nice to hear him talk. I don't think his voice is something that warrants saving for the theater. All we get is that shriek near the end and, alas, that fell more on the side of silly as opposed to scary. His face in that shot didn't help matters. Thankfully, the other shots present a more menacing figure.
We do, at least, get acknowledgement that Pennywise has more than clown and giant spider. Pennywise was meant to be every monster rolled into one and he does feed on fear, so seeing that made more prominent is a plus.
There are some weak spots, but the positive response is warranted. It's a shame that we have to wait until September (I do wonder why they picked that release date) but that's the way of things. I have a good feeling about this and, at the very least, I have to admit that I'm more excited to see what they do with this than I was before I saw the trailer.
Click here to join our Patreon campaign
No comments:
Post a Comment