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Movie Info
Movie Name: Chronicle
Studio: Davis Entertainment
Genre(s): Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Action/Adventure/Superhero
Release Date(s): February 3, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Want to hang out, levitate some stuff, see a movie?
Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) has decided to document his life with a camera. His father (Michael Kelly) is an abusive alcoholic, his mother (Bo Petersen) is dying from cancer, and his only friend is his cousin Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) who doesn’t even really like him. When and attend a party, they run into Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan). The three of them discover something in an underground cavern that unlocks something inside of them. They begin to find they have powers and the powers just seem to grow. Unfortunately, one of them is going to lose control and possibly can’t be stopped.
Directed by Josh Trank, Chronicle was a surprise hit. It is presented as found-footage (like The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield). Critics and audiences liked it and there has been talk of a sequel.
Flying is fun…look out for jets!
The movie is a superhero, science-fiction style movie. The movie is a bit of an origin story in a natural world. The idea of a group of kids getting super-powers in a real-world environment does have them goofing off with them instead of being super-heroes…which is probably true. In movies, the next logical jump is “I’m going to be a super-hero” seems a bit of a stretch in the world…card tricks, pranks, and using the powers to become popular are more likely to me. The smart marketing campaign picked up on this and used the tagline “Boys will be boys” while having them just flying around…much cleverer than the “action” poster that actually came out with the film.
I crush you…like a fly!
The found-footage doesn’t always make much sense. It is unclear how the footage was gathered and put together, but in this case, I can accept that it isn’t necessarily truly assembled for the theater (there is no announcement at the beginning that it has been collected from footage found in possession of the main characters) and at least opposed to other found films, the movie has a resolution and isn’t relying on an unseen monster. Often found footage films, just end…this one gives an ending.
Chronicle surprised me a bit. I didn’t hear much about it coming out and the trailers I did see seemed lame. The movie was surprisingly entertaining and with a smart, short running time, it goes quickly. The acting and everything is ok and rather typical, but a smart concept helps elevate the movie a bit higher than the average movie.
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