Review of Chronicle (2012) by Ben L — 08 Apr 2014

I love super hero films, and I think this one fits in that genre. However, the 3 teens who discover a strange meteorite that gives them spectacular telekinetic powers never really use their abilities for anything heroic. The movie is largely built around watching these guys experiment with different applications of their abilities. It is extremely cool watching them have fun as they become closer with one another and gather more and more mental strength. What makes this a truly unique movie about super-powered individuals is that it contrasts the increasing mental strength with the emotional weakness of the main character. His life of being beaten down physically and emotionally has not properly prepared him to be in a position of power, and we see how this slowly starts to drive him crazy. The whole premise is one that I love, and every scene where one of them discovers a new way of using their powers is spectacular, in fact if all I was judging on was the story I'd be sold and call this a truly great film, but sadly there are some elements that bring my opinion of Chronicle down.

My biggest issue is probably the cast. Dane DeHaan is the lead of our film, and I find him startlingly unsympathetic. It's strange because I know, based on his life experiences, I'm supposed to feel sorry for him, but somehow I just find him whiny and annoying. I guess this makes the 3rd act of the film easier to get through, but I think the whole movie would have been more emotional and dramatic if I identified with Andrew even slightly. Simply showing me that his life is difficult isn't enough to make me like a character (if that were the case I'd love Jar-Jar Binks.) A good portrayal of the character is essential to elicit an emotional reaction from the audience. Alex Russell is also weak as Andrew's cousin Matt. He's likable, but he almost disappears in every scene and lacks the screen presence to be the conscience of the trio. Lastly is Michael B. Jordan as Steve, the solid performer that puts the other actors to shame. He is perfectly cast as the popular kid who everybody likes. He has this sense of almost child-like joy as they play around with their abilities and I can feel myself drawn to him. As a result I think he should have been cast in one of the other roles. In fact the characters of Matt and Steve should have been swapped, or even merged into one, because Michael B. Jordan has the chops to make the ending something amazing.

They went super creative with the found footage idea in this movie. Instead of being fixed to one camera we are allowed to follow the action through anything that might be filming at any moment. At times we watch through security cameras, there are scenes shot with smart phones, even police car dash cameras come into play a couple times. It's a cool concept, but it doesn't totally work for me. I think my issue is that I see no reason to make this a found footage movie in the first place. Instead of character development, or more of the high quality special effects scenes, we spend a fair amount of time discussing with the main character why he is filming, how he's holding the camera, and where he gets the cameras. It begins to detract from the story. It seems the only real reason for us looking through the eyes of a camera is it allows our characters to get out some plot exposition through monologues to the camera. I can't say for sure that the film would be as unique if it weren't shown through this spliced found footage, but that was one aspect I didn't love. At least, since Andrew was often holding the camera with his mind, it eliminated a lot of the handheld shaky camera stuff. In summary, I still think Chronicle is a solid story that comes close to greatness, but falls short because of poor casting and a questionable presentation.