REVIEW - CHRONICLE

Chronicle was sort of a mixed bag for me.

Essentially the movie tells the story of three mostly drunken (two-thirds anyway) high school kids that stumble onto an unexplained object and end up with superpowers. Is the plot anything revolutionary? No. It’s been done before. It’s been done a thousand times, in fact. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

What I like about Chronicle is that the things our teenage heroes do with their powers feels a lot like the things actual teenagers would do if they had superpowers – basically, stupid shit.

Instead of constructing a pair of web-shooters and taking the streets to mix it up with the local toughs (I love you, Spidey) the boys head to the mall and fling stuff from the shelves with the power of their minds.

Instead of dedicating their lives to the betterment of an entire city, all while living up to the memory of their deceased uncle (I really do love you, Spidey) they fly around like dopes and use the gifts they’ve been given to score themselves some poon.

Yep, I typed the word poon.

I’m only mildly ashamed of it.

What I’m trying to say is that the characters in Chronicle actually feel real for most of the time. They’re flawed, and they’re idiots, and I can sort of appreciate that.

There are problems though - lots of them actually.

As good as the first half of the film might be, things start to fall apart in the second half. First off, the whole “found footage” thing is a hindrance. Sure, it makes it possible to get a few cool shots here and there, but the overused convention ultimately buckles under it’s own weight. The fact that the characters are always carrying around cameras and always filming themselves ends up feeling really stupid, really quick.

At times it’s more stupid than a movie review that includes the word poon.

The lower budget also becomes painfully obvious when the script asks a lot more than the effects are capable of delivering, and because of that the entire final act ends up being a lot funnier than was intended.

Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing dudes throwing each other through brick walls as much as the next guy. That stuff’s cool. It’s always going to be cool. Still, a part of me can’t help but wish that things had stayed a bit smaller. The movie was a hell of a lot more interesting when things were small.  (That’s not what she said.)

Ultimately, Chronicle is worth a look. It’s not the greatest film you’re ever going to see, but it’s certainly not the worst. There are some good ideas here, and those ideas mostly make up for the films shortcomings. There are some good scenes and some decent performances too. If you’re into slightly shoddy CGI violence, there’s a bit of that as well.

Plus the film has an embarrassingly short runtime. Even if you hate it, it’ll be over before you know it. (That’s what he said.)

-Steven