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Review: Chronicle (Other Superhero films should take note)

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Director: Josh Trank

Runtime: 83 minutes

Release date: 1st February 2012

Actors: Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Dane DeHaan, Ashley Hinshaw, Alex Russell, Anna Wood

Synopsis:

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

Review:

What would you do if you had Superpowers? In the case of most comics, TV shows and movie, you’d either immediately decide that you want to save the world or alternatively decide you want to destroy it. This found footage film looks at a third (and possibly more realistic) choice available to you if you suddenly had the ability to fly and move things with your mind. Namely, dick around and have as much fun as possible.

OK, first we’ll fly to Japan, beat up some ninjas. Then fly to Italy for some great pizza. Lastly we’ll stand outside Emma Stone’s house and use our x-ray vision.

The story follows Andrew as he goes through his horrible life, mistreated by his abusive father, coping with his mother’s terminal cancer and generally being an outcast in school. Deciding to film his exploits (and thus kind of making you think he deserves a bit of a hiding for being so stupid) we see what happens to him when himself, his cousin Matt, and the popular kid, Steve, stumble upon something they don’t understand which leaves them with the ability to do some pretty crazy shit.

Whilst this mainly involves the three pissing about and making the most of these gifts that have been given to them, using these abilities to garner popularity at school, it all goes slightly wrong when events in Andrews life take a turn for the worse and he starts to use his powers for slightly more sinister purposes.

“We’re the three best friends that anyone could have, We’re the three best firends that anyone could have……..just because we have Super powers doesn’t mean that we’ll fight!

 Now this movie has to jump over 2 hurdles before it even got off the ground. One, the fact that found footage films have become way too prevalent and are often easily dismissed before they get a chance. The second is the fact that Superhero films are everywhere at the minute and so it could be hard to stand out in the crowd without licensed and iconic characters to rely on.

What!?! It doesn’t feature any of us? You lose Chronicle….you’ll have to rely on good story telling over an exisitng fan base who’ll like our movies, even if they’re shit. HAHAHAHA

The found footage format works well but by the end of the movie (especially the climax) you do feel that there was no need for it. It gives us an insight into Andrew as it follows everything he does, and thankfully Dane DeHaan really does give a breakout performance to back up this decision (like I said, even though he’ll annoy you slightly at times, it’s his character you’ll be annoyed at rather than anything else).

It also means other characters are sidelined to the point where another character is constantly holding a camera to film her “Blog” just so Matt can get some screen time. Thankfully, the final encounter shoehorns in so many extra cameras that you get a brilliantly edited and filmed fight but all logic as to why there are so many cameras has been lost. In the end, it in no way ruins the movie, and in fact adds some real intimacy to vital character scenes and also immediacy to the danger of a drive through Seattle which is truly tension filled. It just feels like a good idea that wasn’t necessary to capture what makes the film great.

Also, the get around the fact Andrew is filming it all, which should mean he can’t appear on screen, he uses his powers to telekinetically move the camera. Thankfully one of his Superpowers was cinematography because everything looks great.

 The Superpower stories is fantastic. Without a source material, Max Landis is able to write a story free from any established mythos surrounding the characters or limiting what they can do. Off the Superpowers themselves, I’d like to use Heroes as my comparison here. It’s a show where people got powers and immediately use them for either good or evil. In this, teenagers get the powers and use them to have fun, in a jackass style way, which seems more realistic than everyday people deciding, “Hey, I’m going to protect/destroy the World”. It also give the audience a look at Superpowers that you actually wish you had. If you could fly, wouldn’t you plan a round the world trip? If you could mess with people by moving stuff, wouldn’t you do that and laugh like the jerk you are afterward, like after any good prank? If someone was annoying you on the road, wouldn’t you like to give them a taste of their medicine and throw them off the road? Yes, you would, you never will, but what if you could?

Oh no, I’ve ruined your mid-life crisis douche mobile. If only you’d not cut me off at that roundabout to get where you were going 5 seconds earlier than me.

 And here is where the movie looks at the darker side of Superpowers in a much better way than so many other Super villains have. Andrews descent to the “Dark side” is pretty inevitable (especially if you’ve seen any trailers) but it’s handled in a very human way. He has no agenda to rule the World (though there is a monologue laced with the potential for megalomania), he’s a kid who gets picked on at school, gets picked on at home (though his fathers unrelenting asshole-ness is slightly over blown towards the end) and feels he doesn’t fit in, even with his new found friends. By the time he reaches the point of no return, it’s down to nothing more than anger, frustration and loss. He’s basically throwing a temper tantrum, unfortunately for all involved, he’s also throwing buses.

Watch out Mary!! The 12:15 express to the Space Needle will be flying past soon!

 Also, to use Heroes as my comparison again. The Superpowers are the ones you want to get. They can move things with their minds, have super-strength, whilst not invulnerable, they take a good pasting and most importantly, they can fly. Some of the best scenes have the three pissing about miles above the Earth playing football and avoiding planes. This is what most people think of and secretly want should they ever develop superpowers. Not like Heroes where some can fly, others can read minds, some are super strong but have to use their skills collectively to fight Sylar ,who is the best of them because he has all of the above (and to a lesser extent Peter but they took that away because he was so damn annoyingly angsty and only talked out of one side of his mouth). Also, Heroes gave us some of the shittest powers in recent history, like the guy who could melt pans with the power of his mind. Oh the things you could do with that……like melt pans.

That guy struck fear into the heart of all Supervillains. I think we all remember the time The Joker went to get a sauce pan to cook his soup only to find this waiting for him! The Horror!

Although this is definitely Andrew’s story, the other 2 do a great job as his Super powered buddies. Michael B. Jordan’s Steve is the school jock and future class president. He’s charismatic, cool and way out of Andrews league in the school’s popularity contest. Despite this though, even before they are united by their gifts, he talks to Andrew and you get the impression he’s a genuinely nice guy. Their friendship develops well and he’s one of the few people who tries to point out Andrew has more to offer than he thinks. To the point were he’s not even afraid to look like an idiot playing the straight man to Andrew in an attempt to garner popularity during a particularly funny scene at the school’s talent show.

On the other hand, Alex Russell’s Matt  is slightly annoying at the beginning with his self satisfied attitude but this is more down to his own teenage insecurity than any malicious intent. He’s the one who sets boundaries on what they do and in another nice twist on how you expect Superheroes to act, confronts Andrew at the end more out of concern for his cousin rather than being a hero. This means the final fight isn’t about stopping a World wide threat (Though Andrew could certainly be considered this), it’s about a guy who wants to stop his friend from not only hurting others, but more importantly, himself.

Russell and Jordan text their agents to see why they didn’t get the role of Andrew.

The CGI in the movie is impressive considering the budget. It’s used to great effect throughout, whether it’s showing them flying, moving things with their minds or having a smackdown through the streets of Seattle. Even though there are bits where it is glaringly obvious, it doesn’t take away from your overall enjoyment and when it comes to CGI, that’s all you can ask.

Now I’ve mentioned the final fight quite a few times here (In fact, if you took out all the instances in the review I mention it, it’d be about a third shorter). While I’ve mostly used it to make a point about what it means to the characters involved, I also have to point out that it is pretty much exactly what you want from a fight between people with Superpowers.

I’ll look at Heroes again, and also Superman Returns, and say that these movies featured Superheroes who completely wasted their potential to give us an exciting depiction of how people with Superpowers can fight. Heroes by hinting at a massive showdown but never quite delivering and Returns by not giving Supes a super villain to face and instead having him push objects about (Planes, cars, islands, etc). This features people who can fly, beat each other up and throw cars at each other as they battle along the streets (and through the buildings lining said streets) and generally shows what a Super showdown should look like better than any Superhero movie I think off (Bar perhaps the end of the Matrix: Revolutions).

This is how a Superman movie should end (Though Iron Man is optional, Marvel mightn’t be happy with the copyright infringement).

Whilst I’ve focused on characters and action, there are many themes addressed in this movie that bring it above what it could have been. The themes of loneliness, rejection, loss and an inability to cope with your own abilities are all reasons this story works as they add heart and an investment to the characters, therefore making the final fight more than just 2 guys flying about beating each other up.

Josh Trank and Max Landis have created a movie which will become the bench mark for future Superhero movies. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to see a great Superhero flick or even just a good character driven film. The superpowers and fight are the reason many will want to see this (and rightfully so because it delivers on all counts), but the heart and characters are the reason it’ll stick with you more than other Superhero films long after the final credits.

Also, I defy you to come out of it and not think……no, wish you could do half the things they could in the movie. Whilst you may be uncertain which character you’d become like, either using the powers for good or bad, you’ll just wish you had the chance to find out.

4/5


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