Dark Knight Rises, Amazing Spider-Man, and The Avengers, it looks like you have a tough Third act to follow. Once in a while, a film comes out of no where that is not only a crowd pleasing film, but genuinely thought provoking. Chronicle is this film. Andrew is a maliciously tortured high school senior who decides to record his life with a newly bought VHS camera. One night while at a party, his cousin Matt and new friend Steve take Andrew to a hole they found in the woods to record their discovery. Upon touching the "I don't really know what it is" rock, the trio soon find out they now have Telekinetic Powers. When I first saw the trailer back in November, I was extremely skeptical. The characters looked one dimensional and the powers looked cheap, and the use of POV camera was very odd and distracting to me especially when they showed footage of the kids flying. Also, after Paranormal Activity I was very sick of POV shots. I can gladly say this film was an amazing surprise and to me, the first great film of 2012.
The film directed by newcomer Josh Trank and written by Max Landis, son of one of my favorite directors John Landis is truly stunning, with only a 15 million dollar budget, half the budget of one of my favorite films "District 9". The characters are rich in depth. Andrew is abused by an alcoholic father, school bullies, and not even his cousin Matt really seems to like him. Also, his Mom has cancer. This kid hit the trifecta. Matt is a nice guy, but tries to hard to distance himself from Andrew who desperately needs mental help. Steve is a really nice guy and what happens to him in the second act is truly saddening and yet natural to get the film to it's jaw dropping last act. The use of POV camera's is amazing considering that unlike Paranormal Activity's stilted camera use, this film uses every camera around the characters to get multiple shots of whats going on, a gimmick used best at the insane Seattle final fight.
Warner Brothers, whatever Akira remake you have going on, STOP. Chronicle did it best, and probably shot down whatever "cool" ideas you had. Seriously do yourself a favor and see it! Ah, that felt good. What's Next week's big release?
BRING. IT. ON!
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