I watched it yesterday and I'm over the moon about Benverly
First, the
non-spoilery commentary:
1) Jessica was PERFECT
So sweet and badass at the same time, I think she brought a great vulnerability to Beverly and on shallow note, she was absolutely gorgeous throughout the whole film.
2) Good pacing, it could've been a shorter movie but it didn't feel too long either. I don't think it was scary at all though, if anything I thought it was pretty gross
There were a lot of funny moments too, which made the whole experience much lighter.
3) The cast is fantastic, I loved all of them but Ben was my absolute favorite
I'm a sucker for good guys, and Jay did a fantastic job, if I had any doubts that he was a good choice, he completely proved me wrong, he's PERFECT. Bill Hader was also phenomenal, he really can do it all
I was disappointed in James though
I thought he just seemed angry/annoyed most of the time, he didn't bring that fearless leader trait that Bill has, kid!Bill did a much better job with the character IMO. I think he lacked charisma too, I'd for sure follow Mike, not Bill
Eddie was really fun and out of all the adults, I think he did the best job staying true to his kid counterpart. Adult!Eddie and kid!Eddie were completely interchangeable to me as far as personality went, he nailed the acting.
Now for the spoilers...
Spoiler:
OF COURSE I HAVE TO START WITH THE KISS
Jo, you really weren't exaggerating about the kiss, it was one of the most beautiful kisses I've ever seen
So tender and full of love, it was PERFECT. I love the way Ben looks at her in that scene, he was so happy
I had to control myself not to scream in the theater, I felt like a teenager
As for the other Benverly scenes, equally perfect
The reunion, Ben looking at Bev when she's talking to Bill, how heartbroken he is when Bev thinks Bill is the one who wrote the poem
When he throws the yearbook page Bev signed in the fire and she starts to realize there's something there... when he was sinking in the dirt and he yelled that he loved her I CANNOT
And then reciting the poem and that gave her the strength to save him
And then when he's on top of her and she finally understands it's his poem... UGH
I love the little bits and pieces of the final battle, with Ben protecting her and how they're next to each in most shots. Also, I'm really glad they didn't even try with Bill/Bev, it would've been a waste to invest in the triangle when Benverly is right there, so meant to be. I wish their very last scene had been more intimate though, with Bev in his arms or them holding hands, instead of just sitting side by side. But as far as Benverly goes, I have no complaints.
I just know I'm gonna watch their scenes on repeat as soon as people start making Benverly compilations
Now for a few non-Benverly observations...
The first scene made me nauseous and it's so frustrating that (much like in real life) those guys didn't get what was coming to them. I wanted to cry during the whole attack.
I don't recall if Richie was gay in the book but his storyline was very subtle and sweet. When Eddie died, I was bawling. And when they're in the lake joking and Richie starts crying
I loved Mike although I feel like they kinda underused him once he was done explaining the story, wish there was more of him. They all had a moment when they remembered their encounters with Pennywise but Mike didn't really have any
Except for the brief scene during the fire that killed his parents. I get that he didn't have to remember because unlike the others, he never forgot but still.
Overall, a good movie
I wanna watch it again