Chronicle: Movie Review

Using the found footage format, this movie tells the tale of 3 high school boys, Andrew, who owns the camera, Matt, his cousin who gives him rides to school, and Steve the Alpha African American jock who running for class president. They find a mysterious underground glowing thingy. Luck was on their side, because soon after, they begin to display telekinetic powers.

The three teenagers started out small, experimenting with their new powers in the confines of their backyard. But their inhibitions lifted, and they started messing around with strangers instead. And no longer afraid of exposure, Andrew even orchestrated a telekinesis powered magic show at school to increase his popularity.

The audience will be treated with an exhilarating ride as we watch them hone their skills which eventually lead them to flying, moving big stuff and mind controlled explosions/implosions. One cool unforgettable scene was when they were playing football 33000 feet in the air when a passing airplane all but killed them. We also see how each of them deals with the repercussions of their actions (great power comes with great responsibility dilemma) and how each chose what rules to follow or not.

Andrew is really the central character in the plot. Also because it’s ‘his camera’ we’re seeing most of the footage through. Our main character lugs around lot of emotional baggage, we see his dying mother, his abusive father (abusive by American standards) who’s on some welfare scheme, the fact that the family’s broke and he’s being picked on in school (all the best movies have that). The producers hope that all that makes for one compelling character.

Some might argue that this isn’t a superhero movie, but all his circumstances and a strange perverted conviction would transform him into a supervillain. I won’t spoil you with more details, but the ending and the scenes leading up to it are both suspenseful and a little distressing.

Chronicle is intriguing, but unlike Cloverfield not nauseating. It is a little thought provoking and definitely not the run of the mill action movie. And different, definitely different. 7.5/10.