Chronicle: Killer Journey Despite It’s Flaws

NBC's Heroes, in early pilot form, was a show about super-villains. People granted incredible powers would secretly improve their own lives, not slip on tights and seek out evil. We would have followed individuals leading secret criminal lives for maybe an entire season, only to be brought together for "good" when an event threatened to destroy them all. While elements of this remained, the premise was ultimately too dark for network television. While Heroes isn't the only show to explore the moral disintegration brought on by power, it always felt like a missed opportunity to watch that narrative unfold with the time it required. BBC'sMisfits picked up on this in 2009, with their excellent show about teenage hooligans given super-powers. And now the genre can add Chronicle.

There's a lot working against this film: well-tread narrative territory, a short run-time in which to cover a big arc, trailers which seem to give away the most impressive moments a lower-budget action film could contain, and it's found footage, which is a device we all agreed to start hating back in 2008. Josh Trank's Chronicle overcomes all this, thanks to a smart script by Max Landis, strong performances, and a blistering third act.

Life is crappy for Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan). As a senior in his Seattle high school, he gets beat up. Walking home, he gets beat up. At home, his alcoholic father beats him up. He is literally a punching bag. The only two people who aren't constantly assaulting him are his mother, who is dying of cancer, and his cousin Matt (Alex Russell). Andrew begins filming his life, although I cannot understand what he was hoping to chronicle, since the whole thing seems pretty miserable. Matt drags him to a rave, where Andrew gets beat up for filming people. Seriously, is there a sign on his back or something? While crying outside, classmate Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan) enlists him to document a weird thing he's discovered. Matt, Andrew, and Steve enter a pit and find a glowing object, which doesn't seem to like having them around.

Weeks later, the three have become best friends, thanks to the shared experience… and their newfound superpowers. With telekinesis, they can move or manipulate objects using their mind, although trying too hard leads to nose bleeds. Andrew notices they are becoming stronger, and the boys take their experiments from the backyard into the real world. Practical jokes on unsuspecting mall-goers is the extent to which Matt feels comfortable using his powers, although it become clear none of the three know when to stop. When a jerk tailgates them on the highway, Andrew telekinetically knocks the truck off the road, almost killing the driver. Recognizing that Andrew may be slightly unstable, Steve and Matt make a rule that powers should never be used on a living thing.

While this event could have driven the group apart, Steve discovers he has the ability to fly. Teaching Matt and Andrew reunites the crew, and leads to a joyous sequence where the three friends toss the football around… at twenty-thousand feet. When the school talent show arrives, Steve convinces Andrew to perform, in hopes of gaining him some friends or even a girl. Andrew performs incredible feats of "magic", at the three friends attend a house party that night, where everyone wants to know Andrew, and where Andrew beats everyone at beer pong. Matt is thrilled for his cousin, but also comments on his growing hubris, and concerns about his mental state. As predicted, Andrew goes from the top of the world to a rapid fall from grace, spiraling to the point the entire city is in danger.

Chronicle brings few new ideas to the table, but the journey is so much fun it's impossible to care. What starts as a movie about teenagers being dumb, and then being dumb with superpowers, evolves into a story of friendship and love, then becomes the origin story for a relatable supervillain. But did it need to be a found footage movie? Maybe? There are annoying tendencies with this, such as how Matt's ex girlfriend is a video blogger, so we have reasons to see him when Andrew isn't around. Conversely, when Andrew gains the ability to move the camera with his mind, we wind up with innovative and visually exciting shots and movement that would be completely out of place in any other film. And there is something genuinely cool about a final battle viewed from hundreds of different perspectives, as it is captured on security cameras and cell phones.

There's a reason some first time filmmakers with a science fiction movie won the Super Bowl weekend box-office. Chronicle is absolutely worth your time.