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415 reviews in total

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Who cares about the budget?, 14 July 2012
Author: ajseabrook from United Kingdom

In my eyes this film was much more than I expected.. It set itself up to be judged as one of those 'low budget, kinda indie-looking films'. But it shocked me as I found myself both amazed and on edge at what going on in front of me, it looks no lesser budgeted than a blockbuster.. It just had a point-of-view. Alongside the amazing effects, the brilliant actors and the smart director, the whole 'super- hero' feel that is too familiar is spun a completely different way and personally, I KINDA LIKE IT!.. The screenwriters mind is one I would like to have been inside during the early stages of this film.

Anyway, this is a must watch and anything under a 7, is either from a boring elderly or someone who just doesn't like movies.

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Not so much of a superhero movie., 10 July 2012

Author: Austin Lawrence from Australia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Chronicle is yet another found footage film about three guys who obtain superpowers.

Andrew,Steve and Matt are at a party when they discover a hole in the the ground.They venture inside it and find a alien type of thing.They all think its cool until the thing starts making noises and starts to attack them.The three wake up with superpowers and decide to record everything they do with Andrews camera.They all think its funny and great until a redneck starts beeping the horn at them and Andrew pushes the car of the road and into a lake.After that Andrew brings out his dark side and starts terrorizing the city.Its up to Steve and Matt to stop him before he destroys everything.

The special effects are OK but not Oscar worthy.The plot is good and the ending was a big surprise.Overall Chronicle is a good found footage movie thats worth seven out of ten.

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A good combination of Misfits and Akira, 8 July 2012

Author: siderite from Romania

The film has a lot of qualities, which is not easy for a kids with special powers hand-held camera movie. It starts a lot like the Misfits show, with three random teens getting telekinetic powers from a crystal like thing in an underground tunnel, follows them around while they discover and experiment with their powers in ridiculous ways, then ends with the inevitable conclusion in situations where weak people get lots of power.

The actors play well (although I am not sure Dane DeHaan will ever be able to get the role of a normal person any time soon), the special effects are subtle, but very well done, and the film captures the emotions of those involved perfectly, ranging from inadequacy, moving through camaraderie and pure joy and ending with despair.

A really good sci-fi film, one that not only is a well done movie, but also makes a good point. And if you think it is a little boring at the beginning, bare with it; it will be worth it.

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How did it rate 7.5?, 5 July 2012

Author: theghost1 from Calhoun City, MS

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

OK the reviews looked great. The previews looked great. I never looked hard enough to notice it was a 'found footage" as they are calling it film which if I had I would never have rented it. Thankfully I did not have the money to go see this in the theater or I would have been demanding my money back early on and would have been right. There was nothing worth watching until about 2/3 of the way into the movie. By then your so drunk from the shaky camera which by the way some times you think "oh the camera is gone now it's a real movie" and then Oh crap the jerk got the camera again. At times you wish someone would break it (and they do try but not well enough) There was no real plot there was no sympathy for any of the actors. there was nothing. I feel asleep and missed like 20 minutes of the movie and I am thankful. I did not miss anything really it was all crap. super hero? there were no super hero's in this movie only super villains and super greed. Super heroes would not let their girl friend go with them to fight someone that they know was capable of killing everyone.

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What if Spider-Man had gone evil?, 4 July 2012
Author: DarthBill from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Lonely, emotionally crippled social outcast Andrew, his cousin Matt and new friend Steve discover an underground energy source of mysterious origins that imbues them with the power of telekinesis. At first the three high school boys secretly revel in their new found power, but it's only a matter of time before the long suffering Andrew becomes corrupted by the power at his disposal and uses it to exact revenge on those who have wronged him - his abusive alcoholic ex-fire fighter father, the bullies at school, and inevitably the whole city.

An interesting variation on the now familiar 'Spider-Man' formula and other empowerment fantasies - what starts off deceptively appearing to be another story about a nerdy underdog triumphing over adversity by way of his mysterious new powers slowly turns into a horror film, much like Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" or perhaps even more so David Cronenberg's "The Fly", as the protagonist, Andrew, slowly turns into the antagonist, being both villain and victim by the end of the film. The hints aren't hard to spot - early on it is evident that his empathy for others is questionable at best, so you may not be completely surprised when he goes over to the dark side, but it's still a chilling sight to behold.

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Unbelievably Brilliant!!!!!!!, 3 July 2012

Author: ccoyle36 from United Kingdom

I saw this with my dad in the cinema and we absolutely loved it, now my dad isn't really a fan of movies or found footage movies, but he loved this one! i'm a huge fan of found footage movies and this goes to no. 1. I love the special effects, the script, the actors/actresses, the plot and the movie itself.

The story is really interesting, three teenage schoolboys discover a tunnel leading to this strange unidentified object, and after touching it, they gain superpowers but their dark sides start to appear and that's when the fun starts to arrive.

I think that this movie is an "on" for fans of found footage, action/thriller or people who like movies with people gaining superpowers like Superman or something like that!

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Unique and Compelling New Superhero Flick, 2 July 2012

Author: jpeetfarm from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When I was going into the theaters to see Chronicle, I wasn't sure what to expect. Found-footage is a type of filming that has kind of warn out ever since The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, and recent entries have not been very successful. Thankfully, Chronicle is a film that could potentially rebuild audience hunger for more like it. Director Josh Trank and his young cast, with no real identifiable stars, do impressive jobs in bringing this film to the big screen. It's not exactly a "feel-good" story and the ending is bittersweet, but Chronicle remains an interesting and often funny action-adventure about three teenagers gaining super powers. Although Trank obviously struggles with maintaining his style of filming at some scenes, particularly the climactic and engaging final scene, the found-footage style nevertheless adds a unique take on the story and makes you feel like something like this could actually happen. The teen's reactions to receiving the powers are purely genuine, as well. Instead of duplicating the styles of other filmmakers creating superhero flicks, Chronicle goes in a completely different direction, and I am pleased to say that it is as successful as any other.

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Surprisingly effective and smart, 30 June 2012

Author: (oshram@aol.com) from Cleveland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Chronicle follows the story of three high-schoolers, popular Steve (Michael B. Jordan, who was so exquisite in The Wire), brainy Matt (Alex Russell), and his withdrawn cousin Andrew (Dane DeHaan, looking occasionally like a young, angry Leonardo DiCaprio). Andrew starts going through his phase where he films everything, and we are treated to his lonely, abuse-filled existence for the first fifteen minutes of the movie until Matt prevails upon him to join him at a party. While Andrew films the rave, the story is interrupted by Steve's discovery of a sinkhole nearby, which the three boys investigate, only to find some weird glowing artifact buried within (intentionally shaky camera-work obscures just exactly what the McGuffin is). Whatever it is, it imbues them with psychic powers, predominantly telekinesis, which starts off small – Andrew builds a replica of the Space Needle out of Legos using just the power of his mind – but graduates to larger stunts, namely the moving of someone's car while she's shopping in the mall, and then fatefully, Andrew casually tosses a pick-up truck off the road when the driver following them becomes too aggressive for his liking.

The film does cover some familiar super-hero ground – newfound powers and how to deal with them – but it's immeasurably smarter than the average journey down this lane. You don't even know it will be a sci-fi movie until about twenty minutes in (it seems like an indie flick about teens), and where Chronicle really stands out is that finally, finally, someone understands that story stems from character (okay, Joss Whedon demonstrated that in The Avengers, but that was a rare exception). Each character is smartly thought-out and more importantly stays consistent when his powers develop into a great deal more than any of them imagined (special mention must be made of the initial flying scene, which was the most innovative of its type since we first saw Chris Reeve do it thirty-five years ago – the sheer joy these kids feel when they learn to break the earth's bonds is infections and terrifically captured).

The performances all around are aces. All three young leads stand out – it's hard to prefer one over the other. Michael B. Jordan shines here – with the right projects, he could be a huge box office sensation. Alex Russell is strong throughout, and Dane DeHaan – who gets the lion's share of screen time and the darker role – is simply superb.

The movie's just plain clever as well; it's just smartly thought-out and feels satisfyingly realistic (especially compared to tripe like the Tobey Maguire Spider-man films). The use of faked surveillance footage also adds to the realism as it's so adroitly done (and probably saved quite a few pennies on special effects). The few showy effects – Andrew splits apart a spider into its component pieces – are so well realized they feel eminently natural. From every angle this movie surprised me.

It was only toward the very end, when (naturally in a super-powered movie) things get out of hand that the light bulb went on over my head and I saw an additional shading of genius in this movie: it is, for all intents and purposes, a live-action Akira, except that it's really well done and doesn't have a crappy let down of an ending. There is no longer any need for anyone else to even attempt this, for Josh Trank (director) and Max Landis (screenplay) have already achieved it, far better than any adaptation of Otomo's work could (and indeed, more satisfyingly than Otomo's original version).

I've gushed enough. This movie brilliantly exceeded all my expectations and deserves a lot more exposure than it's gotten. It's smart, engrossing, sharp, and best of all, it didn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make. It just goes to show if you have good ideas and a good, well-told story that you don't have to break the bank. I'll be anxious to see what these guys do next, but honestly, it would be hard to top this.

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A very interesting take on the superhero myths, 29 June 2012

Author: gavin-thelordofthefu-48-460297 from United States

Well, I didn't have anything else to do at the time this month, but at least I checked this out on a red-box DVD rental and watched it at my aunt's house to see if it could caught my very interest. When the action and special effects seemed to have surprised me, I've felt that my heart was intensely beating that only one word can describe about this flick: "Top-Notch!"

I'll admit that this film does have some overdone found-footage and high school clichés and the minute length could've been much longer (like say, a 2 hour film), but all-in-all, I had a pretty good time watching this. The story is very original as it introduces it's take on the superhero myths and it works perfectly, but it also introduces us with the characters so well along with the scientific terms of telekinesis and an apex predator. The characters are also pretty good too and the way what happens when Alex uses his powers for darker purposes progresses really well and predicts what will happen in the end perfectly.

It also has some great flying sequences helped by the fantastic special effects, but what really stands out the most is the concept which was very intriguing (even the second half of the film, which becomes dark, was not only intense, but extremely satisfying). Of course, let's not forget about the acting and boy are the performances that incredible. Dane DeHaan did great as the troubled Andrew, Alex Russell did incredible as Andrew's mature cousin Matt and Michael B. Jordan adds comic relief to the film and did well as Steve Montgomery. The rest of the actors did a decent job with their performances.

Overall, Chronicle would've had a much longer minute length despite it's nice pacing, but with a sequel in the works, I am definitely recommending this to both science fiction fans and action fans as one of the best films of the year.

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Superhero story with a difference, 22 June 2012

Author: Leofwine_draca from United Kingdom

I'll admit to having a soft spot for found footage horror films and shot-on-camcorder outings; I find them inventive and a breath of fresh air when compared to the latest x million budget Hollywood blockbuster. There's something raw and down to earth about making movies on a seeming shoestring, something that gets back to the heart of what filmmaking is all about in the first place.

I'd seen the trailer for CHRONICLE and I'll admit that it impressed me, intriguing it with its potential storyline of ordinary American teenagers discovering extraordinary powers. In essence, this takes the same type of ideas as many of the superhero films floating around cinema screens at the moment and presents them in a far more realistic way, showing the effect of ultimate power on ordinary minds.

The film that follows is something of a mixed story. It starts out realistic but soon goes into some pretty offbeat places before it finishes up being precisely the type of OTT piece of spectacle that I was hoping it wouldn't turn out to be; when they drop the whole shot-on-camera look in favour of a cinematic style, the impact is lessened. The biggest problem, though, is the entire lack of a sympathetic character. The lead in particular is a whiny, maladjusted youth who I couldn't stand, and his supposed friends are little better.

There are still reasons to watch, not least the unorthodox approach to the material and some quite spectacular special effects work, but the film never reaches the heights it had the potential to reach. There's just way too much of the larking about/look at me stuff when it should have stuck with the serious, more realistic angle.

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