Review of Chronicle (2012) by Frank D — 01 Mar 2016

What do you get if you cross Carrie and X-men storylines and shot in the style gimmicky Found-Footage Faux-Doc horror movie style like Cloverfield ? A surprisingly inventive, if not deliberately vague, eye-popping sci-fi adventure thriller that finally offers a good reason for its raw camerawork.

With enough splashy and seamless visual effects to hold the attention of its young 18-24 male target market, Chronicle begins with strong sense of drama and psychological tension which transitions into a comic-book fantasy about ordinary boys acquiring superpowers easily.

The reality of Andrew's (Dane DeHaan) life as a shy friendless high school senior is rather grim. Berated and brutalized by his drunken ex-fireman father (Michael Kelly) whilst listening to his gravely ill mother (Bo Petersen) as she slowly slips away in the room next door, Andrew is a withdrawn teen.

Andrew copes as an outcast by buying and incessantly carrying a cheap handheld camera to 'chronicle' everything about his life, his barrier against human interaction. The only person attempting to break through the devoted loners' social awkwardness is his carpooling cousin, the confident Matt (Alex Russell).

Matt drags Andrew out one night to a rave at an abandoned barn, promptly leaving him and telling him to 'go socialize and mingle'. However, he winds up outside alone under a tree wallowing when matt's best friend, the gregarious soon-to-be class president Steve (Micahel B. Jordan), approaches him claiming there a strange hole in the ground and he needs to record it on film.

Typical boys being notoriously curious, the trio enters the eerie underground cave only to encounter a bizarrely lit and pulsating wall of crystal which somehow endows them with telekinetic superpowers.

A secret game at first, they marvel at in the simplicity of mentally manipulating Lego, progressing quickly into playing public pranks, moving cars and remotely activating leaf blowers under girls' skirts. However nothing compares to the excitement and boyish wonder they feel as there developing powers sees them soaring through the clouds.

As the extent of their powers dawns on them, the question of moral judgment arises. Where there is power, there is also accountability and when Andrews new found popularity and acceptance goes array and his home-life deteriorates further the dark side beckons.

How far will an emotionally unstable super-powered teen go? And can his friends reach him before he goes public or worse, postal?

Surprisingly the boys never try to investigate why or how the powers came to be, they simply accept it, as should viewers. First time film director Josh Trank has embraced Y-gens narcissistic need to immortalize every event with a choppy hand-held filming but also made it feel relevant through the reasoning of its storyline, allowing it to evolve to a smoother god's-eye view as the boys tele-mojo comes into its own and Andrew's delusions of grandeur as an 'apex predator' grows to Iron-Man extremes on the streets of Seattle.

As archetype teen characters, DeHann's deranged majesty is a stand out, exuding feelings of being a withdrawn and insular misfit capable of any transgression naturally; Jordan is aptly bubbly as the perfect jock, whilst Russell gets to walk the moral high ground whilst still being sympathetic.

The verdict: Although completely unrealistic like most super-powered movies, Chronicle creeps slowly towards its extremes, almost making you think not that its actually possible but that if it was just what would you do?

This is wonderfully explored in the films most inspired scene (no spoiler alert necessary). Andrew is persuaded to enter the school talent show under the guise for the world's greatest magician amazing the masses gaining instant adulation, and what do you do with this acceptance, well like any red-blooded male teen, why not apply it to losing your virginity?

Published: The Queanbeyan Age.

Date of Publication: 10/02/2012.