Chronicle Review

Plot Summary:
One night, three high school students (Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan and Alex Russell) make an unusual discovery. This discovery leads them to suddenly gaining superpowers. As they learn how to control their powers, the dark side takes over one of the boys.

The Positives:
The found footage genre is a very popular sub genre in our generation. The most common found footage films are found in the horror genre. This film does it differently, it does the superhero genre this time around. In fact, I think it might be the best in the found footage sub genre.

The main thing I feel they really succeeded here is how they handled the characters. Like some superhero and found footage films, the characters are usually one-dimensional and there's not a lot of time to develop the characters. Within this film's short 83 minute running time, they develop these characters and make the audience care for them. The character Andrew is an example here, he has a terrible life with nothing going for him. Once he becomes hungry with power, his transformation to the villain is both heartbreaking and sympathetic, since he finally is fighting back. The writer, Max Landis, does a really smart job on handling these characters. He makes them more human to keep this story rolling.

I thought that the performances were really fantastic in this film. For unknowns and minor TV stars, these kids really know how to act. Dane DeHaan's performance as Andrew is brilliant, he portrays a lonely, troubled boy very well. I also was pleased with Michael B. Jordan as Steve, he is the humor of this film, he steals the show. Alex Russell plays Matt very well too, he plays the popular kid who wants to do good naturally. Overall, I see these actors going far after this film.

I also enjoyed how they utilized the found footage here. Most found footage have the issue of "shaky-cam", Chronicle lacks this issue. The camera is held carefully, and shows the action effectively without shaking the camera to show the impact. One really cool thing they do with the camera is make it float or fly in the sky with our characters. There is a lot of opportunity to do some unique camera angles and this film does not fail at showing these angles.

I was very pleased at the direction of this film. Instead of taking the action-packed approach most superhero films take, they go with a dark and realistic approach which I really enjoyed. Also, I love how director Josh Trank handles action scenes here, in particular the ending. The multiple camera angles, the way the characters fight, the whole ending in general: it just made me so nervous watching it, since we have learned to care for the characters here. This is probably one of the most suspenseful endings in recent memory right here. I honestly hope Fox still considers Trank to direct the Fantastic Four reboot, it shows he has the style to create massive action sequences on a small budget and the intelligence to create this story.

The Negatives:
While the found footage worked for this film, I felt in some scenes that it could have been better without the style. The ending for example, while it is suspenseful for all of the elements in it, I felt it would have been cooler to watch as a regular film. In fact, I kind of wish the film was in 3D, found footage or not. Some of the scenes would have handled the 3D experience very well, but I'm personally glad Trank did not use that format.

Conclusion:
Chronicle is the best "found-footage" film since Cloverfield. Packed with a smart story, well-developed characters and great performances, I don't think any other film from this sub genre can beat it. This is a "found-footage" film I hope to see sequels for.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10