The adult cast has great chemistry; they were able to really recapture the magic of Richie/Eddie from the child actors with their adult casting. I loved the Chinese restaurant scene. All the acting was unquestionably better than the miniseries version and the different scares Pennywise used were great. I enjoyed the little side trips the adults made; it's reminiscent of how it was in the original version where they each confront a personal memory they have involving Pennywise. I thought some of the changes they made were for the best; Beverly still believes and always has that Bill wrote the poem for her, and Ben basically has to tell her it was him this time. The Kersh scene from the trailer was a little different from the movie version, but the movie version was actually scarier. For Ben's solo scene, they kept the "kiss me fat boy" idea, which was nice, but it was portrayed this time in a much darker and sinister light. I'd probably consider Ben's scene with Pennywise in the old school one of the most tormenting in the film since not only does it play into Ben's psychological fears that no matter how successful or in shape he gets, he'll never get the girl he wants and he'll always be alone. This was a much welcome look at the psyche of his character that we haven't really got before. They could, once again, have done more with Mike but that's my only real criticism of the movie. Henry Bowers was probably wasted a little bit too I guess.
Best Stuff:
-Ben's psychological horror segment where Pennywise torments him about Beverly preferring Bill. -Richie and Eddie's chemistry; and the big swerve that Richie is in fact gay, and has secretly always loved Eddie. -Stephen King's elongated cameo as an antique store dealer. -Stan's poignant final message to the rest of the group; this was something very different and in general, Stan's character in this film gets to look much better than he did in the original.
All in all, it's a great film in general. There's tons of scares, really great acting and chemistry among the cast and another incredible performance from Skarsgard. Honestly, he probably upped the ante in terms of that this time around. I read an article a week or so ago that Skarsgard says he plays Pennywise as this dark entity rather than just a clown. He also said he plays the character in a way that yes he's this evil all-powerful entity, but he doesn't really know what he's doing because he's not human and has trouble conversing with humans. It's an interesting take, and I think it shows up well in this one. ---