Chronicle

Chronicle is an engaging offspring of two very separate genres. Reality based horror / thriller movies and Super Hero's. Never would you have imagined a super hero origins movie being shot with a hand-held camera. They are often related to high octane action sequences and graphics and CGI. Well that thing doesn't change here either but the treatment is creative and thoroughly engaging. If suppose paranormal activity and any super hero movie were to mate, their offspring would have been called "Chronicle".

I think by now the "handheld camera" trick in films is becoming a little stale. Sure, it can help smaller productions and can make some films visually spectacular. However, it seems that it is used in way too many films, usually horror flicks at that. Chronicle, however, is nothing less than a masterpiece at not only the "found footage" style, but is also a brand new way of making a superhero movie, mainly because the people it centers on are far from heroes anyway. They are portrayed as everyday people. People with real problems and psychologies. All the larger than life characters of other sci fi or super hero movie is nowhere to be seen here.

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Like many of you, I gleamed at the trailer and poster with a heavy amount of skepticism. "Yet another superhero-esque film" I thought, this time brought to the screen with the increasingly hawkeyed hand-held style. Is this really necessary? Well no, its not, but its a lot of fun.

The plot you can decipher from the trailer; three teenagers, Andrew, Steve and Matt find a hole in the ground and uncover something that gives them the power to move things with their minds. Then they act as any normal teenager would if suddenly given superpowers, they goof off. Things however get murky when Andrew (Dane DeHaan) begins lashing out as his broken family life becomes too much for him to bare. Actors Michael B. Jordan and Alex Russell complete the triptych as the local high school's popular kid and Andrew's too-cool-for-school cousin.

Capturing teenage angst on film has always seemed like a real struggle for Hollywood. Common knowledge dictates that if you faced the camera towards a group of well groomed twenty-somethings and relegated them to a particular clique it'll all work out. Yet "Chronicle's" script expands on that world without making it "the film". Steve is popular because he is genuinely a sociable guy not because he's some feckless ladder climber. On the flip-side of the coin, Andrew is withdrawn and anti-social because his mother is ill and his father is an alcoholic with a rage problem. These are very real issues that are glossed over or ignored in average teen movies.

But this isn't just a coming-of-age tale, its also a showcase for emerging talents, director Josh Trank and screenwriter Max Landis. While some of the camera tricks and dialogue may seem contrived at times there's no denying their boundless creativity. Trank breathes new life into the 'Blair Witch' gimmick taking "footage" from a wide array of hand-held gadgetry to create a pretty convincing collage, or dare I say chronicle.

As the three climb into the hole to investigate one of them makes a reference to Plato's allegory of the cave. Perhaps a quote from 'Alice in Wonderland' would have been more apt. Like Alice all three are young, surprisingly accepting of the situation and about to enter a world where the natural laws of physics need not apply.

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Chronicle is not really a superhero movie. It uses its themes but none of the characters are using their powers for virtues and justice. It's all fun and games until they get into trouble. It's a great idea but it could have been filmed in a regular filmmaking style. The hand-held camera fails to make the film credible. Despite from that, the film tells a great story with a great twist. The actors are fun. The CGI is good enough. The film is short and small but it's undeniably exciting and really compelling than any other big blockbuster films we usually get.

Chronicle abandons the clichés of superhero films. Usually, when they discovered their powers, they use it to save someone and make their own costume and save the day. The movie asks, what will happen if teenagers in real life have superpowers? In this film, the kids are just recording themselves having fun with their powers. And one of them will use it more for revenge than saving the day. It's a clever idea.

It could have been filmed in a regular movie camera. The found-footage style is pretty unnecessary. The film doesn't need that to look credible. Also, there are too many random cameras and angles which is kind of awkward. Though, the shot was pretty good. But it's still unnecessary. The CGI works better in large objects. It looks dated when comes to the small ones like the spider and the legos. Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan are all fun together. It gets better in the third act. Dane DeHaan gives a great rage to Andrew. The climax is awesomely fun.

Chronicle may be short and small but it feels long and bigger. If only the film was shot in a regular style. But it still makes a great movie. The concept is great. It's fun, intense, and compelling enough to enjoy it in the big screen.

Ever since the breakout success of 1999's The Blair Witch Project, the found footage film has become a subgenre in its own right. In a similar vein to Blair Witch, the Paranormal Activity series has found great financial success with their comparatively meagre budgets, and Cloverfield in 2008 proved that, even on a larger scale, the handycam aesthetic can deliver effective thrills when employed by filmmakers who have a solid understanding of the style. Josh Trank's Chronicle represents an evolution of the found footage genre, taking the character as cameraman conceit to interesting new places, and marking the director as a young talent worth monitoring.

Chronicle differs from predecessors like Cloverfield in the sense that this handycam footage isn't presented as 'found' per se, but rather is a stylistic and narrative choice which puts a refreshingly original spin on a well overdone story: the superhero origin. After encountering a strange, glowing object in a deep underground cave, high schoolers Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan) discover they have telekinetic powers which allow them to move objects with their mind. Matt considers the powers to be like a muscle, which can be strengthened through training, and after beginning small eventually the trio build superhuman strength and, to their delight, the ability to fly. The special effects betray a small budget at times, but the initial flying sequences are breathlessly entertaining, and the pure joy of the characters makes them more effective than most mega-budget blockbusters. These are meant to be regular kids, and although the story loses focus as the scale grows towards the climax, the early scenes are surprisingly genuine and affecting. But make no mistake, this is an origin story (one which doesn't necessarily beg for a sequel however), and Trank and his co-writer Max Landis (son of John Landis) use the visceral, in-your-face nature of the found footage to breathe life into a genre which has come dangerously close to wearing out its welcome in the past decade.

As is the case with almost all science-fiction, a lot more can be read into Chronicle than what is happening on the surface. Aside from the excitement of fighting and flying about, there is a very real human story at work, with a lot of teenage life's triumphs and tragedies. Trank and Landis clearly poured their own experiences into the film, with the three leads seeming like people from everyone's high school years. Added to this is a nice element of self-reflexivity as Andrew, an unpopular misfit, uses his camera to define himself, and how he sees the world. The old adage about writing what you know seems to ring true in the case of Chronicle, and seeing Andrew learn to move his camera in more dynamic ways thanks to his new found powers is perhaps the tiniest hint of autobiography from Trank. The film is filled with subtle aspects such as this which will probably be missed by most, but thankfully simply taking Chronicle at face value is a rewarding experience, proving that the superhero origin story is not dead, it just needs a good shake up from time to time.

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Throughout the years, audiences have been treated to origin stories such as those based on superheroes. With the recent success of the Batman, X-Men, Spider-Man films; and also worth mentioning "Thor" "X-Men:First Class", and "Captain America", it's not hard to see why they click with audiences. With "Chronicle", the superhero origin story is given a fresh new spin.

Directed by Joe Trank, "Chronicle" tells the story of three friends who gain superpowers from a mysterious tunnel discovered in a remote part of a suburban town. Strangely, these teens don't seem frightened or confused about their new found power. Think about how frightened and confused Bruce Banner was when he first transformed into the Hulk. But whereas Hulk was bombarded with gamma rays, "Chronicle" takes a swipe at a fairly plausible Dues Ex Machina plot device that has yet to be explained in possible future installments.

It's true that some may find fault with it's vignette-style story telling in the vein of "Cloverfield". But unlike "Cloverfield" which was a good film in it's own right but had a little too much "shaky-cam" effect, the technique is surprisingly easy to follow. That along with the well-written script and performances, made "Chronicle" all the more enjoyable and engrossing. Maybe in the future, film-makers should take notice from this film in order to make a superb product. Not only that, they even managed to achieve believable special effects on a low budget along with the script. That's really impressive that they achieved to reach fans of superhero comics and films as well as the general audience; very unique.

But I really wished it was longer. With such an intriguing premise even more better than Hayden Christensen's stinker of a superhero origin story "Jumper". "Jumper" was such a disappointment. It wasn't even fully developed on it's potential and sadly was utterly wasted. Thankfully, "Chronicle" delivers on everything that film didn't and more. The climax(which I will not spoil) is one of sheer awesomeness. Emotionally charged with a nice dash of good vs evil, done in an unconventional way. The length of the film bummed me out, but from the looks of things, I can see this film grow into something really special.