Chronicle: It’s all fun and games until everybody gets hurt
Three average high school seniors gain incredible powers in this new Sci Fi film Chronicle
What do you get when you combine teenagers, extraordinary powers and home videos? The newly released film, Chronicle.
The movie starts out quickly with loner Andrew Detmer, played by Dane DeHaan,being invited to a party by his cousin Matt, played by Alex Russell. After Andrew has an altercation because of the video camera he is always carrying around which the movie is filmed through, he meets the third main character Steve, played by Michael B. Jordan. Steve needs this video camera to film something so he convinces Andrew to follow him. After a long walk through the woods, Steve and Andrew meet up with Matt at the entrance to a cave. They walk into the cave and encounter a pulsing crystal. The pulsing intensifies and then the camera goes dark and all you can hear is the start to a cave in. The next scene shows them testing out their new power, telekinesis.
I must admit I came into this movie with low expectations because the whole movie is POV style, filmed through Andrew’s video camera, security cameras, or police dash cams. This style makes you feel like you are watching a home video for 83 minutes so if you cannot stand a camera shaking and going in and out of focus this movie might not be for you. I personally was worried about this, but after watching Chronicle that fact is what made the movie great. Instead of watching a superhero movie about men who have unbelievable powers that use their powers to fight crime this movie shows three normal average high school seniors who acquire a power out in the woods and use that power how normal people might plan on using the power. The idea of fighting crime does not even cross the characters minds. They do everything from playing pranks on people to playing catch a mile in the air. At the end of the movie, there is a large fight scene so it’s not all simple magic tricks, there is quite a bit of action in this movie. Since it was like watching a home video it felt like I was just someone who stumbled across the tape and have found out about three people who I only wish I could be. Chronicle incorporated the growing trend of people filming every aspect of their lives like you see on YouTube every day, which made the story feel real, and that this might actually be possible.
The movie is directed by Josh Trank and was released on Feb. 3. It runs for 83 minutes and is playing at the Bloomsburg Cinema Center. Rottentomatoes.com has given it an 85 percent positive review so I would suggest spending a little money and going to see this movie before it leaves theaters.
My Rating: 9.5/10
