Chronicle

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this film. Excellent directing, screenplay, cinematography and editing. Casting and performances were perfect, especially Dane DeHaan, who's screen presence is incredible in this film. The simplistic teen-target audience I understand, but I would've liked this to be a bit more mature. Still, a nice little gem and a well deserved 8/10 from me.

Chronicle is not really a superhero movie. It uses its themes but none of the characters are using their powers for virtues and justice. It's all fun and games until they get into trouble. It's a great idea but it could have been filmed in a regular filmmaking style. The hand-held camera fails to make the film credible. Despite from that, the film tells a great story with a great twist. The actors are fun. The CGI is good enough. The film is short and small but it's undeniably exciting and really compelling than any other big blockbuster films we usually get.

Chronicle abandons the clichés of superhero films. Usually, when they discovered their powers, they use it to save someone and make their own costume and save the day. The movie asks, what will happen if teenagers in real life have superpowers? In this film, the kids are just recording themselves having fun with their powers. And one of them will use it more for revenge than saving the day. It's a clever idea.

It could have been filmed in a regular movie camera. The found-footage style is pretty unnecessary. The film doesn't need that to look credible. Also, there are too many random cameras and angles which is kind of awkward. Though, the shot was pretty good. But it's still unnecessary. The CGI works better in large objects. It looks dated when comes to the small ones like the spider and the legos. Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan are all fun together. It gets better in the third act. Dane DeHaan gives a great rage to Andrew. The climax is awesomely fun.

Chronicle may be short and small but it feels long and bigger. If only the film was shot in a regular style. But it still makes a great movie. The concept is great. It's fun, intense, and compelling enough to enjoy it in the big screen.

Throughout the years, audiences have been treated to origin stories such as those based on superheroes. With the recent success of the Batman, X-Men, Spider-Man films; and also worth mentioning "Thor" "X-Men:First Class", and "Captain America", it's not hard to see why they click with audiences. With "Chronicle", the superhero origin story is given a fresh new spin.

Directed by Joe Trank, "Chronicle" tells the story of three friends who gain superpowers from a mysterious tunnel discovered in a remote part of a suburban town. Strangely, these teens don't seem frightened or confused about their new found power. Think about how frightened and confused Bruce Banner was when he first transformed into the Hulk. But whereas Hulk was bombarded with gamma rays, "Chronicle" takes a swipe at a fairly plausible Dues Ex Machina plot device that has yet to be explained in possible future installments.

It's true that some may find fault with it's vignette-style story telling in the vein of "Cloverfield". But unlike "Cloverfield" which was a good film in it's own right but had a little too much "shaky-cam" effect, the technique is surprisingly easy to follow. That along with the well-written script and performances, made "Chronicle" all the more enjoyable and engrossing. Maybe in the future, film-makers should take notice from this film in order to make a superb product. Not only that, they even managed to achieve believable special effects on a low budget along with the script. That's really impressive that they achieved to reach fans of superhero comics and films as well as the general audience; very unique.

But I really wished it was longer. With such an intriguing premise even more better than Hayden Christensen's stinker of a superhero origin story "Jumper". "Jumper" was such a disappointment. It wasn't even fully developed on it's potential and sadly was utterly wasted. Thankfully, "Chronicle" delivers on everything that film didn't and more. The climax(which I will not spoil) is one of sheer awesomeness. Emotionally charged with a nice dash of good vs evil, done in an unconventional way. The length of the film bummed me out, but from the looks of things, I can see this film grow into something really special.

I'm normally not a big fan of the handycam filming technique. In the beginning it was all new and okay but personally I think they should stop that technique. It doesn't do movies any good. Not that Chronicle is a bad movie though. It's definitely something else then the usual superhero movies that we see so much lately. Here three kids get telekinetic super powers after discovering a strange thing underground. What starts as a bit of fun quickly escalates in catastrophes. The story is easy to follow. It's different then the usual action heroes that use their powers to fight evil. The actors are all quite young and are not bad. Thinking about what they do with their powers makes me realize that I would probably try the same things. But it's all fiction. So all in all it's an entertaining movie to watch.

Chronicle is an engaging offspring of two very separate genres. Reality based horror / thriller movies and Super Hero's. Never would you have imagined a super hero origins movie being shot with a hand-held camera. They are often related to high octane action sequences and graphics and CGI. Well that thing doesn't change here either but the treatment is creative and thoroughly engaging. If suppose paranormal activity and any super hero movie were to mate, their offspring would have been called "Chronicle".

I think by now the "handheld camera" trick in films is becoming a little stale. Sure, it can help smaller productions and can make some films visually spectacular. However, it seems that it is used in way too many films, usually horror flicks at that. Chronicle, however, is nothing less than a masterpiece at not only the "found footage" style, but is also a brand new way of making a superhero movie, mainly because the people it centers on are far from heroes anyway. They are portrayed as everyday people. People with real problems and psychologies. All the larger than life characters of other sci fi or super hero movie is nowhere to be seen here.

Read the rest of the review at : http://devlifeintechnicolor.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/chronicle-a- realistic-take-on-sci-fi-action/