Chronicle (2012)
Certified: 14
Running time: 83 minutes
Directed by: Josh Trank
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, Alex Russell, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw, Anna Wood, Bo Petersen
KRS release
Chronicle is a successful mix of the superhero genre and hand-held camera techniques pertaining to the found-footage genre, mined so well in the likes of Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield.
Director Josh Trank and scriptwriter Max Landis provide us with an original story that gives us an insight into the mind of a teen who seems to be losing his footing in the real world.
Dane DeHaan is Andrew, a Seattle high school student whose life has been quite rough. His mother Karen (Bo Petersen) is terminally ill while his alcoholic father Richard (Michael Kelly) always vents his anger on his son. The youth has developed a habit of recording his entire day-to-day miseries on video and his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) sympathises with him.
During a rave, a large hole is discovered and popular, aspiring class president Steve (Michael B. Jordan) calls on Andrew’s camera to record the event.
In the hole they find a glowing artefact that changes Andrew’s, Matt’s and Steve’s lives forever as they gain telekinetic powers.
The trio starts having fun experimenting with the powers but Andrew becomes unhinged as he can now hurt those who mistreat or abuse him.
The teens will inevitably clash on a scale that will leave those around them breathless.
Chronicle works for a variety of reasons. First off, who among us has never wished to have superpowers? The film gives us a first person point of view to the proceedings. Another factor in the film’s favour is that the three protagonists are very believable.
An anomaly in Chronicle vis-à-vis the found-footage genre is that the special effects are polished and top notch.
The found footage is well edited, using different sources not just Andrew’s camera and thus getting a variety of perspectives, especially when the downtown mayhem starts.
Another interesting factor is how the characters develop.
The teenager whom we all expect to become a super villain ends up being almost a tragic figure, very much in the old Frankenstein monster mold. And we feel sorry for Andrew and never feel like condemning him for how things turn out.
One minor quibble with the film is its length which, unlike many other films, could have been longer. It left me wanting for more.