It's supposed to be a prequel but it takes place in 1962?
Bill and his crew are all kids from the late 50's originally. Did Hollywood fuck that up?
I'm glad I've never seen these movies. The book is one of my favorites of all time.
It Part 1 (as in the recent film) takes place in 1989, and Part 2 in 2016. Yes, it's a change from the book, but it really doesn't alter the story in any major way, and it maintains the 27 year rule.
Honestly, while Part 2 is a significant step down from Part 1 due to some weird directing choices and effects (still less awful than that hilariously bad-looking spider from the original miniseries) it honestly was smart in cutting some of the fluff of the second half of the book which was not as solid as the first half with them as kids: Beverly's asshole husband is only in the beginning of the film when she runs away from him, which is a good thing to cut as Henry already serves the role as a human antagonist following Pennywise's influence and has already been established in Part 1, and Bill's wife does not show up which again seems like a good thing to cut as I felt she added nothing essential to the book, the movie ending on Bill and Mike talking to each other feels more meaningful than that overly corny bicycle ride between Bill and his wife since the latter I barely know so why end with her?
Like, I love the book, it is one of my favorites of King's (Pet Semetary is my #1 of his), but there's no doubt the book could have used some further editing. Stephen King himself said in his book On Writing that his general rule is to aim for having a final draft be 10% shorter compared to his first draft when writing a new story, I wonder if that rule came after It and he himself feels it needed to be shorter, or was his first draft for It insanely long?
Regardless, the film Part 1 mostly handles the horror well. Yes, there are some basic jump scares that could have held back some but definitely not all of them, particularly a certain individual out of focus in the background in a scene at the library sent a chill down my spine when I noticed it. Also, that goddamn painting in the synagogue. I also think visually it works better to have all of Pennywise's balloons be red than all the colors, it makes for a more unnatural image whereas regular balloons will just look normal to me no matter how it's shot.
Also, the kids are all pretty much great in their roles. The adults for the most part too, but especially Bill Hader as Richie, who not only nails the comedy but really delivers an emotional performance near the end with his tearful breakdown over who they lose to Pennywise near the end.