Review of Chronicle (2012) by Damjan R — 31 Mar 2014

In hopes to use the pseudo-documentary approach to liven up something, which is ostensibly a run of the mill high school setting drama, Chronicle pulls a fast one on the audience. The stylistic choice of using so-called found footage is purely arbitrary and actually hurts the narrative more than it helps.

The characters find their powers by pure chance and "undoubtedly" one of the principals turns "villain". Pulling of meaningful character development takes a back seat to effects and destruction, but most egregiously, smart-ish characters get dumber with more power.

The story paints well within the lines and while it might seem fresh, this is only a mash up of disparate elements thrown together in an attempt to mask their superficial nature. This film could have been miles ahead and much better if it were done using "conventional" methods of storytelling, but gimmicks sell and here you go.

I have never understood the principle behind relinquishing control over your story, as it is done in these types of films. As the characters are filming themselves (also problematic, on a much bigger scale) where is the direction? And then, when the crutch (it's not a tool, it's a narrative and film-making crutch) stops being itself and goes into "conventional" direction is where the whole film falls apart.

While the effects are done ably and some acting is passable, this is a cinematic train-wreck, passed of as innovative and fresh.