Chronicle
Action (Sci-Fi)
2012
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 84 minutes
Starring: Dane DeHaan,
Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw
Directed By: Josh Trank
Rating: 6 out of 10
Outline
Three teens stumble upon
an unknown object that gives them superpowers.
Review
Most people have wondered
what it would be like to be a superhero (well mostly nerds that is.) This film does
a decent job of going through the motions of what someone would do if suddenly
they were blessed with unnatural abilities. Chronicle is the story of three
high school students. While exploring an underground cave they stumble upon an
object that gives them superpowers. With their new found power come dark
thoughts and that may tear the three friends apart.
The film is shot in the
found footage style so I won’t get into the whole why would they be filming everything.
It starts off with the three kids attending high school. What I liked about
this film is the three friends are all at different levels of social status.
Andrew is a loner, a geek, creepy, whatever you want to call it. He has a rough
home life with an abusive dad and a sick mom. His cousin Matt is more popular, but also try hard. He might be a little cooler if he didn’t sing Jessie J songs in this,
just saying. Steve is the most popular guy at school; he is charming, charismatic,
and likable. Although they would never become friends in real life. The
superpower secret has created a unique bond between them, and it gives a cool perspective
for the film. As their powers grow their philosophies on how to use them take
shape. Do they keep the power a secret? Do they use them for good or evil? All good
questions and their lives play a huge role in determining their answers. The film’s
progression is actually quite believable as they discover and improve their
powers. Things like playing practical jokes on people by levitating toys, throwing
baseballs at each other, and causing the wind to raise a girls skirt are all
things normal teens would start out doing. The film although interesting spends
the entire movie making the viewer understand that their powers are growing. So
while it is cool that they can levitate objects, create barriers, and even fly,
it does this for the ENTIRE film. This film desperately needed a bank robbery, a shootout,
or a huge fire to test these kids but nothing was forth coming. This story
took a predictable superhero course where the ending would culminate into one huge
fight.
The unknown cast doesn’t do
a great job but does enough not to ruin the film. The loner Andrew played by
Dane DeHaan does a good job in his role. He is picked on at school, beaten at
home, and is losing his mother to a sickness. His new found powers give him a
measure of strength from a position of weakness, and it is cool to see his evolution
from a so called nobody to something more. His chaotic emotions are used
perfectly in this and drive the story down its darker road. You will probably
hate his voice though, and I got an Edward Furlong vibe from him but he gives a
solid performance. His cousin Matt played by Alex Russell was neither good nor
bad he was just merely there. I probably wouldn’t be able to pick him out of a
line up in a few weeks. He wasn’t the worst though so I won’t criticize. Last
is Steve played by Michael B. Jordan (I am assuming no relation). He works as
the popular kid but his role could have been played by any actor out there. When
it is just two of them on screen it is easier to handle then when all three of
them get together. As their powers increase so does their douchiness level.
They laugh like hyenas as they cause general mischief all over the city. They
could have toned down their personalities a little bit as they were trying to
hide their secret.
The film has such a
positive vibe and then quickly spins out of control so that you won’t know what
hit you. With great power comes great responsibility but also great popularity.
So the three friends are thrust to the top of their social groups and each has
their own way of dealing with it. A lot of people thrive in the limelight but most
fracture in it and that is why I ultimately liked this film. Although they may have
superpowers they are still kids with the same everyday popularity struggles and self worth issues. It is also cool to think what you would do with the same
powers. (It disturbs me that robbing a bank is all I can come up with.)The film has a short run time so it never drags or gets caught up in anything unnecessary.
When the end comes it is a perfect finale on a movie that needed more action
scenes like it. So overall I liked the film I just felt it spent too much time
building the story and not enough scenes of them really using their powers. I
get that they can levitate shit now go out and do something crazy with it.
Director Josh Trank's debut
film was a success if not amazing. He knows his audience and gets the most out
of the film with a PG-13 rating. The budget (est. 12 mill) was clearly a
limiting factor as the CGI was weak in some instances. (i.e. fake looking
baseball, stupid levitating potato chips). It seems they saved most of their
budget for the ending which I was okay with as it looked great and really gave
closure to film that desperately needed it. Tranks could have broken up the
story more with additional scenes of action and less scenes of discovering
their abilities. The camera work was decent for found footage and he used a
unique way too shoot this movie. Overall he did a decent job.
I give this movie a
recommendation but it is a lot of story to action ratio so be warned.
T Factor + If you like found footage films then this
could score higher on the rating scale.
T Factor – If you do not like superhero movies then
this could score lower on the rating scale.
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