Chronicle Review

In the creation of genre flicks, movies seem to stick to one pattern after another and the superhero and found footage films are no exception. Movies like X-men and Cloverfield follow the same pattern in all these types of projects that was laid down before i.e. Men develop super powers and decide to serve humanity or found footage with overdrawn scenes and questionable camera shots. Insert Chronicle a piece that holds the two genres of found footage and science fiction superheroes and does a fresh new take on it. Chronicle directed by Josh Trank and written by Max Landis the son of legendary filmmaker and music video director John Landis starring Dane Dehaan, Michael B Jordan, and Alex Russell, begins with 3 high school students one a social outcast and two regular popular teens who encounter a mysterious rock which gives them superpowers (telekinesis) the ability to move objects with their minds soon they begin filming their experience but the pressures of everyday life soon take a toll on them. Chronicle is neither a superhero film or found footage as a whole but an in-depth analysis on teen life and a realistic approach to fantasy. That is the gimmick about this film is its ability to take an old classic story about bullying and infuse it with superpowers and found footage. The story is engaging scene after scene will keep you glued to the story. The characters are interesting as they can be, the actors do a very good job at making you believe this is set in the real world as supposed to making it feel a total fantasy as in other superhero movies. One actor that stands out is dehaan who plays the depressingly tragic figure of Andrew, it’s not his fault life dealt him a bad card you feel sympathy for him. The others do great as well they play the typical high school students who for a while have fun and is believable. Andrew is neither a hero nor a villain but a perfect example of a flawed and tragic figure. Matt (Russell) is the middle man of the trio not only is he confused about who he wants to be in life but acts as the voice of reason. The exception of the cast goes to one actress who is the love interest for one of the main characters is there merely as a prop to progress the story further and it works just on a passable level as she is barely in it to establish her as a character. Now let’s talk about the camera work in most found footage films of the past it took a sense of disbelief on how they were getting all those cameras to film inside the story as found footage is a genre established by taking a character and taking everything he sees via camcorder of the phone. Every camera shot will make anybody fall in love with found footage films. But Chronicle does it perfect with each camera shot is justified as you proceed from one camcorder to an iPhone and beyond and is perfectly edited to make it believable, I would never suspend their disbelief. The special effects are fun to look at as the characters fly and do all sorts of tricks but to my disdain they are practical which is good but some scenes you can see the effects start to wear off especially 40 minutes into it but it never loses value or become terrible in this age of special effects it’s a relief to see something that’s not overly cgi. While Chronicle does suffer with a character that is just a prop and a character arc or treatment that is shorthanded the movie also suffers from a short length time it’s still a classic of this decade never boring you and putting a fresh twist in the genre with a stellar cast and great story this movie will have you coming back for more.