Chronicle (review)

Again a movie is released that has gone to the well of ‘found footage’. This is the concept of the movie being captured by amateur photographers with an odd collection of cameras, and not created by professional cinematographers. This idea has been around since the days of ‘The Blair Witch Project’, and goes to ‘District 9’ and up to ‘Paranormal Activity’. This is used quite well in this movie, and it goes to emphasize the way this movie tries to have an ‘indie’ style.

The story concerns three high-school aged guys in a town near Seattle. They are played by some (almost) unknown actors, who do a great job with the roles. The script comes from Max Landis (who is the son of John Landis) and is directed by Josh Trank (with both of working out the original story). They create a weird and eerie atmosphere for the plot and put the characters into some unique situations.

Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is in a difficult situation, with an abusive father, a dying mother, and derision at school. He is bullied and abused from every angle. So he gets a video recorder and decides to chronicle all the events in his life. He has a cousin Matt (Alex Russell) who tries to be his friend. They attend a party after school and meet an ambitious, very charismatic Steve (Michael B Jordan), who is running for class president. They wander from the party and find a large hole in the ground, and they decide to explore. They find deep within a large, well, something that glows and gives off some type of energy. The boys are amazed and energized (in a way).

They soon find that they have different abilities then before. They can control objects with their minds, and make things happen by concentrating. This causes their noses to bleed (see the movie ‘Firestarter’) when they control objects. At first, this seems to be a big joke, and they pull ‘Jackass’ type stunts on each other and on other people. They move a car from one parking stop to another, only to watch the confused driver when they came back for the car. They pull little stunts with leaf blowers, and they find they can play an awesome round of beer pong. And they can levitate the video camera for some nice steady pans, close-ups, and other such ‘professional’ shots.

But one day they are driving along a remote road and a Jeep is tailgating and honking the horn. Andrew gets upset and waves his hand, and suddenly the Jeep smashes into a guardrail and tumbles down an embankment into a stream. Matt gets the driver out and to shore. The two others do not understand how Andrew could be so careless to almost kill someone. They agree to limit use of the special powers.

But then they discover they have a new ability, they find they can fly. So they take to the air and play football in the clouds. But they have a near disaster and come back down to earth. Andrew gets more and more into a dark and isolated space, and the urging of Matt and Steve can not help him overcome his personal demons. He lashes out against Steve, with a very deadly result.

With only Matt and Andrew around to have the special powers, they take different paths. Matt attempts to keep in low profile. Andrew decides to get medicine for his sick mother, but the only way to get it is to become a super-powered thief. His attacks some thugs and takes their wallets, and then goes after a gas station for more money. The robbery goes very wrong and the place blows up. Andrew winds up in the hospital. His father, seething over so many things, unloads on Andrew and tells him that his mother is dead. Andrew is to blame, says dear old Dad. Andrew comes out of a coma in rage.

At this point, all bets are off about subtlety and keeping quite about the ‘super’ powers. Matt arrives on the scene (when his nose started bleeding, he know that Andrew was up to something). They begin a struggle to see which one is the ‘apex predator’ (the highest animal on the food chain with no known prey). This goes into a GCI-fueled fight to the finish. The film is gathered from various locales and angles, based on the ‘footage’ from security cameras, smartphone captures, police dashboard cameras, and all such stuff.

Well, the story of a person who is bullied until he has had enough and strikes back is not new. But it has never involved a guy who has just developed some ‘super’ skills and strength. Also, the loner guy with an alcoholic dad and sick mom is a repeated part of the ‘teen angst’ story. But when he has the ability to lash back with deadly force, it changes the whole story. So overall, this is a very clever way to portray an odd situation make it seem somewhat fresh and intriguing.