Saw this yesterday, it was really good. The below review sums it up well.
4 stars.
Review: Chronicle
Found footage is a played out genre. Gimmicky and distracting, it’s a fun concept, but in most cases detracts from a story that could have been fine with out it. In very few instances is it necessary, and even when it is, the mode creates too many arbitrary rules for the filmmakers. It’s a constricting device. I have very little patience for found footage thrillers.
Similarly, super hero origin stories are just as, if not more, played out. From the most legendary, decades old heroes (Marvel, DC) to new ones being created yearly (Hancock, Sky High — and I bring those up because of their relevance here), it’s something we’re familiar with and have seen in many variations. There’s not a lot of need to watch it agin.
All that said, Chronicle is utterly surprising and a hell of a good time.
Relative unknowns Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B Jordan play high school students, of varying social status, who stumble upon an underground, vaguely-extra terrestrial crystal which bestows upon them mischievous telekinetic abilities. It’s all shown through the lens of Andrew’s (DeHaan) video camera, though DeHaan appears on screen frequently (but we’ll get to that later). The boys’ performances are believable if mired by stereotypical high school bro characteristics. Their emotions hit in the ways they should. Casting unknowns was smart for the sake realism, as is the Seattle setting. First time director Josh Trank procures rich performances out of his young cast.
Trank directs a script by Max Landis (son of director John Landis, whose influence is apparent) and succeeds with flying colors. It wears its $15 million budget well, appearing to have a much higher value. Special effects are impressively executed and hardly ever distracting. The third act and final climax are blow-you-away epic with bold choices and even bolder camera work.
Found footage films are nothing without good cinematography and the filmmakers threw in a lot of neat little tricks here to redeem the showy conceit. The entire concept of found footage is poorly set up with Andrew simply wanting to “record everything” and not giving a good reason why, but as the boys begin to develop their powers, Trank, Landis, and cinematographer Matthew Jensen are able to do something not seen before in the genre. They turn the camera around with no camera man. If the boys can make the camera float, they can suddenly be in shots together without someone having to hold it. Kind of genius if you ask me. This affords Jensen and Trank the luxury of having all three main characters appear on screen at one time and avoids “the guy behind the camera” problem (see TJ Miller in Cloverfield).
And yet, this manipulation can only take them so far. A female love interest is flimsily introduced for one of the guys as a blogger and she too video tapes everything, so you get some stuff from her camera, and all of a sudden there are two angles. (Though I did enjoy a scene in which it’s an over the shoulder of her on one of the guys but you can still see her face in a mirror.) Then as the action ramps you get lame excuses for police cameras (SPOILER: why Andrew needs a camera on him when he’s in the hospital bed makes no sense) and cell phone footage from bystanders. They toe the line of smart ways around “found footage” and distracting methods that pull you right out of it.
Landis’s script while not revolutionary is a nice tweak on the origin story. Its character voices are clear if entangled in a bit of melodrama. Some beats are slightly predictable while others are widely exhilarating. He wisely doesn’t spend a lot of time on the how and why (how did they get these powers? why isn’t anyone coming after them?) and relies on what feel like honest choices in a forward moving drama. It’s slick and invigorating culminating in an ending that’s supremely done and escapes cliche.
For its low budget, Chronicle may not have been too much of a risk for a studio but for the audience, making another found footage movie and another super hero origin story was. Thankfully Landis and Trank didn’t think it was overkill and they were right.
(One last thought: If you liked Attack the Block, chances are you’ll enjoy this.)
