Monday, June 18, 2012

CHRONICLE: UP UP AND AWAY!


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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