The Good: Acting, Character development, Special effects
The Bad: Pacing issues, Plot is predictable.
The Basics: Chronicle lived up to my expectations as an intriguing superhero origin story, despite the annoying narrative technique.
It takes a lot these days for me to get excited about a superhero film. I am one who is not wowed by spectacle and superhero origin stories are usually so formulaic that it is hard to keep me engaged. It is even more difficult for me to get excited about a movie that involves Cloverfield-style camera techniques. Last year, X-Men: First Class (reviewed here!) pleasantly surprised me. When I saw Chronicle previews, it reminded me somewhat of Cloverfield (reviewed here!). Fortunately for me, Chronicle lived up to my expectations and actually managed to pleasantly surprise me.
Chronicle is an archetypal supervillain story and despite the annoying narrative technique that illustrates the entire film using handheld cameras. Fortunately, writer Max Landis and director Josh Trank are smart enough to include more than one camera to make the cuts between various angles make sense. Chronicle is frequently difficult, but many of the moments that would be the most horrific are muted by the fact that the camera simply does not explicitly capture them. Thus, sensitive viewers reasonably cringe knowing that the cameraman gets smacked full in the fact, but we - fortunately - do not see it actually happen. In that way, Chronicle manages to stay PG-13 and be unsettling without being unpleasant.
Andrew Detmer is a Senior in high school, a virgin, who is entirely unpopular. He lives near Seattle and his mother is suffering, bedridden while his alcoholic father is abusive. Andrew's only friend is his cousin, Matt, who gives him rides to school. Andrew is interested in capturing everything around him on his new video camera and that only encourages those around him to treat him even worse. One night at a party, Andrew is approached by Steve Montgomery, a fellow Senior who wants Andrew to come video something strange he and Matt found. The trio descends into a hole in the ground and encounter a glowing crystal formation that reacts to the three boys.
Weeks later, the three boys video their limited use of powers they have begun to develop. They all have basic telekinesis and this amazes and surprises them. Over the course of the next few weeks, they work to develop their new "muscles" and practice using their thoughts to move objects, including themselves as they experiment with flying. When a belligerent driver annoys them, Andrew nearly kills the driver by flinging his truck off the road and into a nearby pond. Matt pushes for them to develop rules and Andrew begrudgingly accepts the rules. But while Steve and Matt abide by their agreement, Andrew continues to develop his powers in private, which forces a showdown.
Chronicle is a very, very slow film, but while the pacing issues bothered me at first, the more I liked it as the movie went on. Chronicle develops with a strong sense of realism and the movie lives up to its title. This is the story, a permanent record of a journey and the development of the story actually happens in as close to a realistic fashion as it could happen. Part of the strength of the movie for me was the fact that the film did not attempt to explain everything. Instead, limited as the protagonists are by their experiences and educations - as well as adults who chase them away from the site of their initial "infection" - they become preoccupied with the effects of their exposure instead of trying to define the cause of what happened to them. Chronicle works well, despite having a very slow build-up.
Chronicle works as well because the movie is so character-driven. Andrew is frequently abused by Richard, his father. The sudden change in his physiology does not negate the prior seventeen years of his life. As a result, Andrew remains distrustful of those around him and he takes a long time to warm up to Steven. Late in the film, when he and Matt have a conflict, he is able to credibly observe that they only really hang out since their exposure. Despite the direction Andrew goes in as the abuse continues even after he develops his telekinetic powers, he remains essentially human for most of Chronicle. The film is especially smart in that Andrew's development is slow and considered, realistic.
Also cool is how Andrew is not the only realistic character in Chronicle. While I usually rail against the romantic subplots, Chronicle makes decent use of the inclusion of Casey, a classmate of Matt, Steve and Andrew's. When Matt tries to get closer to Casey after his exposure, she rejects him. I liked that detail; she doesn't simply start liking him or believing in his changed personality just because he suddenly starts coming around. In a similar fashion, Max Landis keeps Richard smart. Richard might be an abusive jerk, but he demands something in Chronicle that I've not seen in any other, similar, film. Late in the movie, Richard demands to know how Andrew is getting to school. He has observed that Andrew has a more expensive camera and that Matt no longer comes to pick him up and he calls his son on it. Rather cleverly, the viewer knows that Andrew is flying himself to school, but both Landis and Trank are smart enough to not make this explicit.
While there is no post-credits scene, Chronicle leaves the viewer with a sound effect sequence that will leave engaged viewers debating for some time, though at least part of the final scene is clear simply by the inclusion of the sound effects. Chronicle may be slow and somewhat predictable, but it is smart about how it develops and that makes it worth watching.
It is also worth noting that Chronicle may use a limited narrative technique, but it is not a small movie. In fact, this is one of the movies I have seen lately where it is very easy to recommend seeing it on the big screen. Chronicle uses decent special effects, but it tends to use the full canvas of the theater screen. That means that even with a decent HDTV, this movie is much less likely to look good on a small screen. More than 3-D films, Chronicle uses the medium well and the sense of perspective of the people flying among the skyscrapers is likely to be lost later on. Go see Chronicle on the big screen!
For other science fiction films, please check out my reviews of:
Avengers
Skyline
Unbreakable
7/10
For other card reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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