What would you do if you suddenly had powers that no one
else had except two friends? Would you use those powers for good or abuse them?
Such becomes the question by the end of the film CHRONICLE.
Andy Dettmer (Dane DeHaan) is the typical high school loser
in the midst of his senior year. Abused by his father, he chooses to buy a
camcorder and shoot everything that happens in his life including the attacks
by his dad. Of course walking around all the time with a camera on your
shoulder does little to make him any more popular at school.
The only friend Andy has in his life is his popular cousin
Matt Garetty (Alex Russell). Matt gets along with everyone and though he and
Andy haven't chummed around for a while, he still tries to involve him. The
latest event he talks him into is going to a rave on the outskirts of town.
There Andy discovers that the popular kid in school, Steve Montgomery (Michael
B. Jordan) actually knows who he is from their time in school together and
because he's friends with Matt.
The three of them leave the rave when Matt finds something,
a hole in the ground nearby that seems fairly deep. They do a little
investigating and find a glowing crystal deep in the ground that seems to have
tendrils moving inside of it. As they touch the crystal the camera jerks around
and suddenly it's the next day. To their surprise they discover that they have
telekinetic powers now.
Their powers progress and where they first start off doing
goofy things like making baseballs sway when tossed to hit one another ala
JACKASS, they soon discover that by careful manipulation they can fly.
Apparently none of them has read or seen Spider-man or they would realize that
with great power comes great responsibility.
As the film progresses, we watch Andy's slow collapse. While
he has this enormous power, perhaps more so than his two friends, his fragile
mind can't handle it when coupled with the abuse he's endured by both his
father and the kids at school. He becomes a time bomb waiting to be unleashed
and when he does there is no telling what will happen next.
As I watched this film I was reminded of AKIRA, the classic
Japanese animated film where a youngster suddenly gains power and has the
potential to destroy the world. But instead of a film that spends most of its
time showing the main character overflowing with power, this movie tends to
uncoil slowly as we watch these characters go from normal teens to potential
monsters. You can feel nothing but sympathy for Andy after the physical and
mental beatings he endures and at the same time fear him in what he becomes.
The effects are well done and make the whole concept
believable. The joy that these three have when they test out their powers makes
for moments that are amusing and then fearful. Best of all they seem real.
One note for those who are not fans of the genre. The film
is another of those hand held camera movies where the camera jumps most of the
time like BLAIR WITCH or CLOVERFIELD. But as Andy's powers increase he begins
to stop holding the camera and guide it with his mind instead offering a more
fluid movement to the scenes, making the camera motion almost a character as
well.
Some will hate this movie while others will love it but on
the whole I think it falls into that medium area of being a good movie that you
won't watch over and over again. It is worth seeing at least once, but as for
multiple viewings I just don't see it happening. Well made, well acted, well
directed, but ultimately just a fun film for the moment.
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