Movie Review Rewind: Chronicle (2012)

Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2012 for a look at Dane DeHaan in Chronicle on the latest edition of Movie Review Rewind.

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In a world where a new film genre has been created that consists of “found footage” movies, Chronicle sets the bar at a pretty high level. Usually, this style of storytelling is only used for horror movies except on a rare few such as Cloverfield, which is the only other movie that I can think of that used the “found footage” style to their advantage and succeeded outside of the horror genre.

A story about high school students with super powers probably sounds familiar and will make you roll your eyes at the very concept. However, Chronicle provides a fresh, invigorating spin on being a superhero and what it is like to deal with unimaginable powers at a young age. Full of excitement and energy, this movie is able to stay grounded when it needs to be and isn’t afraid to fly off the rails when it wants to.

The movie is mainly seen through the camera of Andrew (Dane DeHaan), a high school Senior who begins chronicling his life with a camcorder and starts with capturing his alcoholic, abusive father yelling and threatening to kick his bedroom door in while his mother lies on her death-bed downstairs. Andrew is shy and not very social. We are very aware from the beginning that his family life is horrible and he is bullied every day at school, but he hopes to see the world in a different way by recording everything in his life. And it’s a good thing because after he, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), and the most popular guy in school Steve Montgomery(Michael B. Jordan) discover a hole in the ground, everything changes.

The indescribable object they find gives them powers that we all dream we could have. It starts out with moving small items like LEGO and stopping objects like a baseball to moving cars and eventually being able to crush them entirely. Oh and they can fly too! As each days passes, Andrew, Matt, and Steve become stronger and more dangerous. Matt tries to lay down some rules on when they can and can’t use their powers, but Andrew views these gifts as a way to become something more than just a punching bag for the bullies at school and his father at home. From the moment these three get their powers, there is a slow but consistent build until, like everything else, it reaches its breaking point. And it certainly does with all hell breaking loose.

In his feature film debut, director Josh Trank shows off his skills by making a slick, entertaining sci-fi movie that actually shows what teens may do and act like when they all of a sudden have extraordinary powers. But the most important thing of all is how these three high school students deal with and handle the responsibility of doing something no one else on Earth is capable of doing. And this is where the movie gets at times funny, tense, or flat-out scary. Trank shows great potential to do some awesome stuff in the future, and with his first movie being like this, he is off to a hell of a start.

Finally, there has to be something said about the three strong, terrific performances by DeHaan, Russell, and Jordan. It is because of them Chronicle works so well. Their characters have real depth and come across as engaging and convincing, which is extremely important for a movie like this. You have to believe in these characters no matter what kind of mayhem is happening around them.

DeHaan plays the most interesting person of  all. We see what life Andrew lives before he gets the super powers and you almost understand why he does what he does. Being him hasn’t been easy and now he has a huge advantage on everyone who has mistreated him. So to use the powers to seek revenge makes sense. It doesn’t mean it’s right, but you definitely see why and where it comes from.  

Chronicle has a young, talented cast with a director who believes in a fast pace which provides great momentum. It has its share of humor and crazy action sequences, but there is some real heart in this story as well. It has a little bit of everything and while the movie can be filed under “found footage”, it is more than that. It is better than that.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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