Chronicle - Review

If there's one particular film genre that I've had consistently mixed feelings toward, it's got to be found footage films. With the rise of podcasting, smart phones, and social networking, it's easy to see why they've had such a resurgence in popularity. Unfortunately, they've never made much of an impression on me, I've never hated them but I've never particularly cared for most of them either. Many of them are just generally gimmicky and cheap looking movies that use shaky cams and grainy/dark quality videos in order to cover up the low production values and take advantage of a lower budget. Even some of the higher budget (Cloverfield) or critically praised movies (Blair Witch Project or The Last Broadcast) were kind of "meh" to me. The only found footage movies I've ever really gotten into were the Paranormal Activity movies, though even those I admit were enjoyable mainly in a fun guilty pleasure kind of way. Chronicle took the genre in a new direction, combining both found footage with the sensibilities of a superhero flick. The idea was interesting for sure, and as far as I knew, it hadn't been done before (correct me if I'm wrong though). I unfortunately missed this one in theaters, but managed to pick up the Blu-Ray and finally got around to watching it. Does it live up to both of it's respective genres or does it get lost in it's gimmick?

Chronicle primarily centers around the teenage Andrew Detmer (Dane Dehaan), an introverted high school student picked on by his classmates, abused by his alcoholic father, and coming to grips with that fact that his mother is dying of cancer. His closest friend is his cousin, Matt Garretty (Alex Russell), a more popular and mostly well-meaning (though kind of a douche too) student who constantly tries to get him more involved among his school peers. One day, in order for Andrew to cope with his difficult school and home life, he buys a video camera and starts chronicling his day-to-day life. When Matt eventually persuades Andrew to come to a friend's party, the two meet fellow student, Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), the friendly and uber-popular big man on campus. At this party, the three teens discover a small cave containing mysterious and unknown (possibly alien) object that inexplicably gives them telekinetic powers. The trio then embraces their new-found powers, primarily using them for fun and games, but as their powers become stronger, they begin to test their integrity. Suddenly, the find themselves faced with the decision to use their abilities responsibly or to embrace their darker inhibitions.

One of my issues with found footage movies, particularly big budget films set in high profile metropolitan cities like this film, is that it becomes difficult to suspend your disbelief. This doesn't apply so much to lower budget horror flicks like Blair Witch or The Last Broadcast, because those are set in indistinct locations that most probably are not familiar with like the middle of the woods in a random rural town. For instance, even though I know a movie like Paranormal Activity isn't real, the fact that it takes place in a random location and features two people I've never seen or heard of, it becomes somewhat easier to buy that what I'm watching might have actually happened... or at least seems more plausible. Higher budget found footage films like Chronicle or Cloverfield are set in well-known metropolitan cities and feature big scale disasters. When I was watching Cloverfield, it was hard to get into the movie, for me at least, because the movie tried so hard to make it look like some top secret document of a major disaster that actually happened. Though, if by some chance, a giant monster actually appeared in New York and started tearing up the city... yeah I would have heard of that. Hell, Chronicle is set in Seattle, the city where I live, and if a bunch of teens with superpowers were running ape-shit downtown, you bet your ass that would be national news. So with that said, you're probably thinking that I hated this movie. To answer that... while I do think that the film probably would have been more effective if it didn't go with a found footage aesthetic, I have to admit that overall, I thought it kind of rocked.

Where Chronicle succeeds where so many other found footage movies have failed is in it's script, particularly it's characters. The main characters are a group of three likable and sympathetic teenagers with depth, development, and naturally flowing character arcs. Soon after we meet them, we get a feel for who they are, where they are coming from, and what drives them. It helps that the actors to portray the three characters are spot on. The standout has to Dane Dehaan as Andrew, who infuses his character with a raw sense of emotion and drama, allowing the audience to make a strong connection to his character. More than that, Chronicle paints one of the more believable and accurate depictions of high school life and conventions while addressing many common concerns and troubles teenagers face (well, at least it seems legit compared to my high school experience from what I remember, I have to admit it's becoming harder for me to critique teen movies seeing as I graduated from high school seven years ago... damn I feel old.) The film itself bares more than a few similarities to Stephen King's Carrie, which itself was a story of an outcast teenager who acquires telekinetic and takes revenge on her abusive parent and condescending classmates. Carrie was a great book adapted into an outstanding movie in 1976 (one of my all time favorite flicks), and while Chronicle takes a few too many queues from that particular story, it was nonetheless a good source for which to take some inspiration.

Something I mentioned earlier is a pet peeve I have concerning how so many found footage movies utilize shaky cam gimmicks along with dark, grainy, or generally low quality video to cover up their lack of budget. Personally, that kind of style tends to just annoy me and draws me away from the experience. Chronicle manages to side-step this problem by actually presenting a film with mostly steady camera movements and an overall solid display of production elements. Most of the time, Andrew or some other character is holding the camera via their telekinesis in a stable and watchable manner, allowing the audience to actually see and absorb what's happening on screen. The film is edited in a profoundly interesting way as well, most of the film takes place from the POV of Andrew's camcorder, but every so often the film will cut to footage from either another person's recording or footage from a nearby security camera. It kind of makes you wonder why they bothered with the found footage style in the first place, but I guess you can't argue with what works. Speaking of which, Chronicle also boasts some of stellar cgi, which is all the more impressive considering it's relatively low budget. Aside from a handful of iffy cgi shots, most of them looked pretty solid and managed to blend in with the real elements of their environment. All of this culminates to a third act finale that is all but guaranteed to knock your socks off. While it doesn't quite compare to some of the finales of some recent superhero epics (though it's not really fair to compare a 12 million dollar film to a 200+ million dollar epic like The Avengers), it's still pretty damn amazing to see what can be accomplished with a sub-par budget.

Despite all this movie has going for it, I admit that it's not perfect. While I dug the film's characters and subtext within the script, it nonetheless resorts to mostly predictable development and an ending I think most will see coming. It wasn't hard to predict the fates of the primary players, and shouldn't be to any semi-regular moviegoers. Plus there were a few times I couldn't help but question a few circumstances regarding the found footage elements. For instance, there are a couple of scenes that I couldn't help but think why would a character be filming a certain incident, or why they would have a camera in the first place. As I mentioned, I can't help but wonder if this film would have benefited more as a traditional narrative as opposed to a found footage film, but that's a relatively unimportant nitpick that boils down more to an aesthetic choice.

So overall, Chronicle kind of rocks! Aside for a handful of nitpicky-related critiques I have about the film, I don't have too many bad things to say. It's an interesting take on the superhero genre that's well-acted, well-directed, and for the most part, well-written. I'm kicking myself for missing this one in theaters, but the cash I spent on the Blu-Ray was definitely money well spent. If you haven't seen this one yet, definitely check it out.

My Score: 4 out of 5!