Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell Michael B. Jordan, and Michael Kelly

Directed by: Josh Trank

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Chronicle could easily be mislabeled. At a glance it’s a superhero origin story focusing on classic teen wish fulfillment scenarios that will be promptly and justifiably located in the “Found Footage� section on Netflix in 8 months. It’s all those things. You can’t argue that it’s not. What you can argue is that it does things that go well beyond what a clichéd description like that implies. It gives us a modern take on superhero origins and turns the found footage phenomenon on its head, actually saying something interesting about it in process.

Those eager to label Chronicle could argue that it steps on a lot of the major plot points, and even grand character arcs, of X-men: First Class (Leaving out perhaps the most important plot point - I’m speaking of course about groovy Professor X’s pick up lines.) If anything the comparison only points to how well structured The X-men were in the first place because Chronicle is asking the same hard questions X-men creator Stan Lee was in the 60’s. “How would powers change you?� “What would you do if you had powers?� These are the questions that made those characters so great and what now make this film so much more than just “another superhero movie�. Chronicle’s answers to the questions are that the powers don’t make you a better or worse person, they only amplify the person that you are. They allow your true nature to come out. And when teenagers get the courage (power) to speak their own mind… well you know stuff is gonna start blowing up.

That is perhaps a little misleading. Chronicle would be misplaced in the action section. If anything it’s a little light on the action. This is much more a story about three people brought together and torn apart by newfound abilities. There’s little time for explosions when you’re developing very real, very believable characters.

The first 10 minutes of the film has a very specific goal. You will be bullied into believing that Andrew’s life sucks. We see Andrew (Dane DeHaan) teased at school, beaten at home, taking care of a dying loved one… The full deal. The kid has it rough and its portrayal is harsh. Andrew begins filming his life. A means perhaps to document his abuse or maybe just to find relevance. It’s left open ended but I love the room for interpretation.

When his older cousin Matt (Alex Russell), a begrudged mentor, drags Andrew to a rave the humiliation continues until Steve () leads Andrew away from a party to a mysterious hole in the middle of the woods that he and Matt found. Andrew is invited to film it, and invitation that showcasing how ridiculous it is that we live in a world where everything needs to be captured for posterity. Even holes…

What’s in the hole isn’t important. What’s important is that the three come out with telekinesis or: the power to move things with their minds. We now get to follow the three as they discover their powers, experiment with them and develop them. It’s good times. Lots of pranks. Lots of football catches 10,000 feet of the ground. You know. The usual. More to the point though we see these three people that were not friends before truly coming together over a shared experience. It makes what follows that much more believable and tragic. Despite his new friends Andrew still struggles for acceptance. One blowjob gone bad later and all hell breaks loose. That’s as good a place as any to stop on plot recaps. But what follows is really a fantastic portrayal of power allowing the best and worst inside people to rise to the surface. Really well done.

All three actors are terrific. There’s much to take away from the film but the presence and chemistry of these three is lasting. They are genuine and authentic, even as they soar above the Space Needle. I enjoyed as well Michael Kelly as Andrew’s father. I’ve liked Kelly since seeing him as redneck-turned-badass CJ in the Dawn of the Dead remake and have really enjoyed the character actor he’s become. He is a ball of rage ready to explode at any second in Chronicle and it makes for some very tense scenes.

The film doesn’t have much new to say specifically about the super hero origin story or the conflict faced by a person with newfound power. Like it or not this is basically the rise of Magneto and the forced existence of Professor X. The themes are so classic I’m sure there’s a Shakespearian comparison but look who you’re talking to. However Chronicle is perhaps one of the first films to tackle these subjects with modern young people. As classic as “power� and “how power corrupts� can be as themes, the world is always changing and if new perspectives aren’t available now we need only wait 10 years to see what our children think.

The found footage point of view is apparent but not abused. I’m sure part of how the film was sold was on it’s unique perspective but people are so burnt out on this genre of story telling that I could hear my audience complaining about it in the parking lot. I tend to think that people are complaining about it because they recognize and identify it rather than it’s actually poorly used. I would say that application here actually has a lot to say.

What’s most interesting in regard to the found footage technique here is that it’s not a singular camera we’re seeing. Andrew has two cameras in the film yet we see their footage edited together seamlessly (well…relatively seamlessly. I mean – there’s a reason he had to get a new camera.). Additionally, security camera footage, police vehicle dashboard cams, even cel phone camera footage are all fair game in telling this story. It’s something that comes in especially handy during the films finale when we see a citywide battle from a hundred different perspectives. Imagine the showdown from Superman 2 shot from inside the bus that gets thrown at Superman.

The multiple cameras give multiple voices and multiple perspectives offering a chance to better round out the story and characters while also pointing out that we are a nation under surveillance. We’re all a terrible reality show just waiting to happen. Chronicle doesn’t bash us over the head with this message but we would be foolish to ignore it completely. It’s right there in the title. Andrew is chronicling their newfound powers as well as his own life. There’s a commentary in there about how people document their existence and in some cases build their own worth by stepping in front of or shoving a camera in the face of the world around them. That’s part of it. And it that respect Chronicle is saying so much more about the world we live in than the found footage films where a camera is set up to prove a ghost is bothering your dog.

Chronicle plays like an intimate blockbuster. The kind of film that invites you in, gets you comfortable and then knocks your socks off. I think there’s something to be said about a sluggish middle. Despite its uniqueness in editing there’s a point where you’re waiting for the true conflict to emerge and when it finally arises I for one wished there was a little bit more of it. But we’re taking away so much more than that. It’s a faire trade.

First time film director Josh Trank should be pretty proud of his finished work here. There are rumors that he’s been tapped by Marvel to helm a reboot of The Fantastic Four. If he can bring as much authenticity and character to that as he did Chronicle then FF fans should be very pleased.

I wonder how well Chronicle will replay. As it stands the build up could be too slow and the action not grand enough to warrant revisiting regularly. But once every few years couldn’t hurt. It will be a nice reminder that there’s always a new take on telling familiar stories.

That’s a beast fo a review so I’ll be brief here - Thanks for stopping by today. What to give quick links to my Twitter and Tumblr accounts. I’m making fun of movies all week long over there. Thanks again!