When the trailer for Chronicle came out, I remember
immediately despising it. It showed us a bunch of arsehole teenagers getting
superpowers and becoming bigger arseholes. It had terrible music, cheesy
moments (that cross-legged car-crushing shot that’s in the trailer is still the
worst part of the movie) and used the found-footage technique, which I really
wasn’t a fan of at the time. It was because of this trailer that I never
bothered seeing it in the cinema. Despite the great reviews it got and the
numerous recommendations from friends, I just didn’t give a shit. So, after
finally watching it upon its DVD release, did it live up to the hype or did the
trailer, for once, not lie? Let’s just say I’ve watched it three times since
buying it.
Andrew, Matt and Steve are three late high schoolers who
find some kind of thing (that’s literally all we know about it) and it gives
them superpowers. They spend about as much time establishing the plot as it
took me to write that sentence, and it’s glorious. The three guys obviously
become strong friends through their bonding experience, and grow together as
they learn to use their powers as well as be responsible with them. It’s a very
simple movie, but its execution is so close to perfect that it’s almost
frightening.
One of the more unexpected parts of Chronicle is the fact
that there are no traditional action scenes until fairly late into the movie.
Before then, actions scenes are replaced by the main characters experimenting
and doing all the things that teenagers would do with powers: flicking girl’s
skirts, playing pranks on people, playing handball without hands, and so on.
What’s amazing about these sequences is how truly exciting they are to watch.
The characters are having a great deal of fun, and it rubs off on the audience
in a big way. We have seen much more spectacular things in film thousands of
times, but it’s all done so well that you feel a sense of awe that I don’t
think I’ve ever felt in any other movie. It feels real and believable, which is
something I can’t really say for any other superhero movie (not even the ones
that are trying to be real, like Super or Defendor).
In fact, the film makers did a stunning job with
manipulating the audience’s emotions in general. There are genuinely funny
moments in here, but they are realistically funny. It’s the kind of humour you
get when you’re hanging out with your friends, not when you’re watching a
comedy. Ordinarily, that shouldn’t really work in a movie, but it does. On the
other side of the spectrum, Chronicle gets incredibly dark at times. And during
these moments, it makes you sympathise with its characters to far greater
effect than any other superhero movie I’ve ever seen. It really is a testament
to how well-developed these characters are. Without the attachment you have for
them, none of these scenes would have worked at all.
The found-footage technique is used to pretty good effect
here, too. Most of the time, you forget it’s part of the movie (which is a good
thing in this case) but it is occasionally used in surprisingly dramatic and
original ways. Thanks to the fact that the main characters can telekinetically
wield cameras, the cinematography isn’t hindered by the found-footage nature of
the film, but you still get the positive aspects of found-footage, especially
in the third act.
All of the actors here are young up-and-comers, and they did
a fantastic job. I’m pretty sure this was the first time I’d seen any of them,
and they left a great impression. Hopefully they’ll get picked up for the next
X-Men film or something.
The frequent comparisons to Akira are fairly justified.
Akira’s narrative is a hundred times more complicated than Chronicle’s, but
there are certainly a fair few direct parallels. Even the costume design is noticeably
influenced by Akira.
As a superhero film, Chronicle is quite strange. In many
ways, it deviates very heavily from the norm, while in others, it follows the
tropes extremely loyally. Whenever it broke the rules, it felt original and
intelligent. Whenever it didn’t, it felt appropriate and never cheap. They
never actually mention the word “superhero” once in the whole script, which was
refreshing.
Chronicle absolutely blew me out of the water. Alternative
superhero films are rapidly becoming more interesting to me than DC’s and
Marvel’s, and movies like this are why. This is truly one of the most gripping
films I’ve seen in a long time. It affected me to a far greater degree than I
ever expected an action movie like this to do. It successfully deals with
untraditional pacing methods, and has one of the most magnificent third acts I can
think of. It may not be the most complicated movie, but everything that is here
is done to near perfection. After some consideration, I’ve come to the unexpected
realisation that Chronicle is my second favourite superhero movie of all time.
As well as that, don't forget to check out my friend's podcast that I co-host here.
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