Chronicle (2012)

You can't really deny that Chronicle is a fun and enjoyable exercise. It's unique if not wholly original. Among all the enthusiasm of bewildering flying sequences and other astonishing FX however, writer Max (son of John) Landis submits several disappointing moments that almost completely erase the good time everyone most likely was. The story and teaser trailers doing the rounds seemed to promise a unique take on the ideas of super-powers and telekinesis. I personally was hoping for something special, but it still rightfully lent itself to dubious frowns from many a cinephile as well. I had faith in our new young visionaries of writer and director (Josh Trank), but it only ended up feeling average and a largely missed opportunity. Was I victim to the hype? Expectations are be an unfortunate thing but Chronicle suffers mainly for the same reasons a lot of genre films do; good concept, unfortunate execution.

Though I don’t think it’s fair to use the found footage genre trend against as even though it is all seen through the eyes of a video camera, the quality, type of and person shooting is fresh and changed up enough so it’s not as banal to look at as the sub genre's biggest hits, The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield. The script was the main problem; plot holes and poor dialogue are all too frequent. Not overly cliched but the ones present are difficult to ignore. By all means some films have these issues and its easy to let the fun override them, but I couldn’t completely with Chronicle. I can’t decide if it was rushed, studio trimmed or just plain lazy on the part of Landis. I’d be interested in seeing a director’s cut out of curiosity. Technically it was well made and contained some brilliant effects considering the budget. The finale was brief but exciting, with the final acts of Carrie & Akira clearly an inspiration. Luckily it does feel more homage than rip-off however. Characters and performances range from good to distractedly annoying, which is typical for a mostly unknown young cast. Our main lad, Andrew, rings out as a major stereotype sadly, only redeemed by a decent effort from actor Dane DeHaan.

To summarise, the filmmakers are young, enthusiastic guys keen on bringing something unique to the screen but with themes/ideas consistent in anime and horror for decades, it's not going to impress many familiar with such things. As a first effort for them, it certainly could have been much worse but Chronicle is not a bad movie. There is a moment half way through that really turned the tide for me however and it wasn't able to redeem itself after that. No doubt a sequel will be made and I’ll check it out if at least they can promise I will be treated a little more intelligently when it comes around, because as brain at the door stuff, Chronicle succeeds. I think it’s mainstream agenda caught me by surprise though. I figured it was going to be some dark, independent take on a superheroes idea, but it felt more like a Michael Bay/J.J Abrams creation just with less money. It exists only in the ambition to be a film of their ilk after all unfortunately.

#review #Chronicle #joshtrank #MaxLandis #Telekinesis