10 Reasons IT Is Better Than The Original

7. The Structure Is Smarter

While the mini-series accurately adapts the structure of King's novel, cutting as it does between the young and adult versions of the Losers, the new film rather smartly opts to tackle just one side of the story in Chapter One, focusing entirely on the Losers as children.

Considering that no two-hour movie could do justice to King's 1100-page novel, and the fact that a second It movie was only going to be made if the first was a hit, it was a damn fine idea to give the first film a more singular focus. Its standalone nature also ensured that even if the movie bombed, it would function well as a one-off.

Rather than splitting the audience's attention between two iterations of these characters, sticking with the kids gives the film a more intimate feel, one which would most likely be upended by constant time jumps, as is one of the bigger criticisms of the 1990 film.