Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a struggling teen with no friends, a mother who is dying, and a father who drinks too much. He buys a video camera to CHRONICLE his life and is intent on documenting everything, starting with his father's abusive nature. The camera seems to bring only more unwanted attention from school bullies and his dad, and the only person who is nice to him, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), is slightly annoyed by it at first. One night at a party, however, Matt and another classmate, Steve (Michael B. Jordan), stumble across a cavernous hole in the ground out in the woods. They decide to grab Andrew so that they can videotape their exploration of this mysterious underground cave and come across an unusual luminous crystal, which after being exposed to it, gives them all extraordinary powers.
The film uses the handheld video techniques pioneered by movies like “The Blair Witch Project” and “Cloverfield”, using footage that the characters themselves shoot as the action progresses. I don’t want to digress from the movie too much, but it’s important to note that I am not a fan of these types of movies generally. The budget for tripods, dollys, and steadicams has NEVER put a multi-million dollar movie over budget and the framework of being "found-footage" usually restricts filmmakers to uninteresting camera angles and unappealing visuals. This is simply an aesthetic choice that I rarely see as a benefit to any full-length film.
The director of CHRONICLE, Josh Trank, and its writer, Max Landis, seem to have an understanding of those limitations, however, and are even able to successfully cheat around them by having the characters use their powers to levitate the camera. Instead of one person always being behind the camera, this cleverly places all three main characters into the action and allows for smoother camerawork and angles you could never get away with otherwise.
The film works surprisingly well as we discover who these characters are, how they attain their powers, and what happens to their dynamic as they begin to experiment and strengthen their powers. The film does a nice job of taking a realistic look at what teens might do with that type of ability as they start out by knocking each other around in the backyard and pulling off pranks on unsuspecting shoppers at the store. With the exception of one grave reminder of how dangerous these powers could be, it's harmless fun that becomes infectious in a very “boys will be boys” sort of way.
As the film pushes into its dark final act though, it begins to run out of fresh ideas, giving into big-budget envy as it builds to a traditional large-scale action movie ending. It’s not bad, but it feels lazy when compared to the rest of the film as the main characters are forced into traditional good guy or bad guy clichés. The film’s narrative approach even switches gears from “found footage” to a more documentary-like style, using multiple camera sources including cell phones and security feeds.
Overall, CHRONICLE is a smart, entertaining movie which overcomes some, but not all, obstacles inherent to the “found footage” genre and should be measured as a success for everyone involved. The young actors each impressed me in different ways, and the filmmaking duo of Max Landis and Josh Trank is one to watch.
7.9/10 (B-)
The film uses the handheld video techniques pioneered by movies like “The Blair Witch Project” and “Cloverfield”, using footage that the characters themselves shoot as the action progresses. I don’t want to digress from the movie too much, but it’s important to note that I am not a fan of these types of movies generally. The budget for tripods, dollys, and steadicams has NEVER put a multi-million dollar movie over budget and the framework of being "found-footage" usually restricts filmmakers to uninteresting camera angles and unappealing visuals. This is simply an aesthetic choice that I rarely see as a benefit to any full-length film.
The director of CHRONICLE, Josh Trank, and its writer, Max Landis, seem to have an understanding of those limitations, however, and are even able to successfully cheat around them by having the characters use their powers to levitate the camera. Instead of one person always being behind the camera, this cleverly places all three main characters into the action and allows for smoother camerawork and angles you could never get away with otherwise.
The film works surprisingly well as we discover who these characters are, how they attain their powers, and what happens to their dynamic as they begin to experiment and strengthen their powers. The film does a nice job of taking a realistic look at what teens might do with that type of ability as they start out by knocking each other around in the backyard and pulling off pranks on unsuspecting shoppers at the store. With the exception of one grave reminder of how dangerous these powers could be, it's harmless fun that becomes infectious in a very “boys will be boys” sort of way.
As the film pushes into its dark final act though, it begins to run out of fresh ideas, giving into big-budget envy as it builds to a traditional large-scale action movie ending. It’s not bad, but it feels lazy when compared to the rest of the film as the main characters are forced into traditional good guy or bad guy clichés. The film’s narrative approach even switches gears from “found footage” to a more documentary-like style, using multiple camera sources including cell phones and security feeds.
Overall, CHRONICLE is a smart, entertaining movie which overcomes some, but not all, obstacles inherent to the “found footage” genre and should be measured as a success for everyone involved. The young actors each impressed me in different ways, and the filmmaking duo of Max Landis and Josh Trank is one to watch.
7.9/10 (B-)
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