Chronicle (2012)
Film Reviews — By Rob Keeling on February 8, 2012 at 10:00 pmThe found-footage movie has become something of a horror and Sci-Fi movie staple of late and these genres seemed to have claimed a monopoly over its usage. With Chronicle however, the already rather saturated market for superhero movies was given a valuable shot in the arm using this novel narrative technique. Debut director Josh Trank and novice screenwriter Max Landis (son of John) have delivered a low budget sleeper hit which boasts an engrossing story and particularly impressive effects given its relatively meagre budget (around $15million).
The film follows three American High School students from varying social strata. Steve (Michael B. Jordan, aka: Wallace from The Wire) is a popular jock running for School President, Matt (Alex Russell) is an intelligent and sensitive soul and also cousin to our lead focus and key cameraman Andrew (Dane DeHaan). Loner Andrew has decided to film his day to day activities and through his camera lens we get a clear insight into his unhappy home life. His mother is critically ill and requires constant care and medication the family can scant afford. His dad is a violent drunk, a former fireman who seemingly loathes Andrew as well as the general world at large. He is also bullied at school where he is a clear outsider and far removed from the popularity of Matt or Steve.
After letting Matt talk him into attending a rave, Andrew inevitably has a bad time of it and slinks off outside to escape the unwanted attention his camera brings. Steve tracks him down and drags Andrew and his camera to film something ‘cool’ he and Matt have found in the woods. The ‘cool’ thing turns out to be a deep hole in the ground. Matt and Steve dive in first, followed grudgingly by an unhappy Andrew. What the trio find down there is unclear, it’s a supernatural and perhaps alien entity of some description, but once they are back on terra firma we start seeing the three friends developing strong telekinetic powers. Andrew’s roaming camera captures their achievements as they advance from building Lego towers using only the power of their minds, to being able to zip around the sky like birds.
The first two thirds of the film are a fun look at three friends gaining special powers and mucking around with them to no major consequence. They do the kind of things you’d expect teenage boys with super powers to do, including terrorising the public with floating toys at the local store, blowing girl’s skirts up using gusts of wind and moving people’s cars to random parking bays. Sure enough however, things take a turn for the worse as the emotionally troubled Andrew struggles to control his growing powers. He begins to resent who he sees as lesser mortals and seems unwilling to curb the use of his increasing abilities. Matt tries to keep him in check but the two cousins struggle to see eye-to eye when it comes to how their new skills should be utilised.
The whole film is a great premise which is well executed, although perhaps the found-footage concept is a little stretched at times. Matt’s love interest’s convenient use of filming for her blog feels a little contrived for example (who films their front door?), but you know what? I’m willing to let it go.
Director and Screenwriter alike deserve great praise for how slick the movie progresses. The scenes of the three friends developing their skills and bonding in the process feel genuine and believable. It’s as close to reality as a film like this could get. The slow transition into dark menace likewise feels very natural. The tone shifts and as Andrew becomes more reclusive and tortured, the set pieces become more impressive too. The flying sequences look good throughout but the climatic fight sequence is particularly gripping.
Chronicle in many ways does follow several standard Superhero movie traits, namely the geek inheriting new found powers and his inability to control his anger etc etc etc. What makes it work as a movie though is the refreshing take it offers on the genre in general. It really feels more like a teen drama for huge swathes of the film and so when the superhero stuff does kick in, it seems surprisingly real and thus all the more powerful.
It’s a real breakout hit which will surely mean bigger and better things in the future for messers Trank and Landis.
DIRECTOR: JOSH TRANK
SCREENWRITER: MAX LANDIS
STARRING: DANE DEHAAN, ALEX RUSSELL, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, MICHAEL KELLY
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
RUNTIME: 83 MINS
Film Rating: 
Popularity: 1%
Tags: ALEX RUSSELL, Chronicle, DANE DEHAAN, found footage, high school, JOSH TRANK, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, Michael Kelly, powers, sci-fi, superhero
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5 Comments
Nice review, although I didn’t get along with the film at all. I felt that the found footage gimmick was stretched so far as to become entirely pointless – if every technology can be controlled by Andrew, therefore creating multiple vantage points on the action, why not just shoot conventionally? Throw in some wonky structuring and moral dubiousness and we have the first major disappointment (in terms of hype and potential) of 2012. My mini-review is here: http://e-filmblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/review-roundup-chronicle-martha-marcy.html
Cheers Mike. To each their own and all that!
Out of curiosity, what particularly did you find morally dubious?
Okay, to any passers by who haven’t seen the movie, *HERE BE SPOILERS*
Basically, Andrew’s entire hero-rage-meltdown. I know he’s got a shitty life – abusive drunk of a father and dying mother – and that’s hard, and I feel for him, but I really don’t see it as a valid excuse to slaughter hundreds of innocent people. He’s such a mature, introverted character who’s been around violence his whole life, and so understands its consequence, and because we don’t spend enough time probing his psychology, I just don’t buy it when he flips out and paints the concrete red with the local thugs bodies, plays ragdoll with cop cars (lobbed at civilians), blows up petrol stations and destroys thousands of dollars worth of property. Basically, as much as I feel for Andrew in the early stages of the film, I don’t believe his problems (or more importantly, Landis and Trank’s rationale behind them) give him the right to act like a petulant child and murder (or at least injure) half the city.
Very good point and that is partly how I felt coming out of it.
To me this started off as quite a nice idea on how nacissist todays youth can be aswell as the modern culture which eggs people on to grab their fifteen minutes of fame. However it lost its way in the middle, where it kind of falls in love with its own idea too much and becomes an over blown and empity film, at times resambling a teen version of Iron Man. The characters were very annoying at times also.
I saw it today, and also have significant reservations (my rating: 6 out of 10). I wondered why Andrew didn’t explore the exact extent of his powers more (instead of philosophizing about his predatory right to use them – doesn’t sound like the typical behavior of a high school student), and tried to put them to more direct use in saving his mother. And, generally, there was so much they could have done with their powers. But they (well, Andrew) were too quickly corrupted by them, as if that’s a law of nature (which it isn’t – power will enhance whatever tendency is already there; it won’t necessarily make it worse).
Also, I felt the movie existed in a world where any concept of superheroes was unknown; nary a reference to Superman or comics or anything. In this, I felt the movie placed itself too far away from other kinds of super-power stories.
And, as Mike E. says, there was no convincing reason for the video-taping format of the tale.
So, a bit of a disappointment. I probably won’t bother writing a full review.