What? The first truly great film of 2012 is a superhero movie? And the words "Dark Knight" and "Avengers" are nowhere to be found? Both of those surefire blockbusters will have a hard time measuring up to the energy and realism of Chronicle, a film that shows having superpowers is about more than vague slogans like "with great power comes great responsibility", it's a heavy burden and one not everybody is prepared to handle.
Over the last few years as comic book movies have all but overtaken Hollywood with brightly suited heroes in silly masks, only on occasion do we get one that dares to take a different approach. Movies like Kick-Ass and Super spring to mind, but those are really just deconstructions that don't take comic books seriously at all. Surprisingly, M. Night Shyamalan had the right idea a few years ago in what was quietly his best film, Unbreakable, a convincing and authentic look at the origins of a superhero and the man who would come to be his nemesis. With Chronicle, newcomer Joshua Trank has tapped into that same idea, only with a healthy dose of teenage hormones and emotional volatility.
For once, the annoying "found footage" sub-genre is put to solid use as Andrew(Dane Dehaan), a bullied social outcast begins documenting every moment of his life. He does it at first to capture the physical abuses by his father, but it isn't long before we see that there's no real escape for Andrew anywhere. He's treated just as badly at school, with his only friend being his popular cousin, Matt(Alex Russell). Andrew's barely contained anger and depression is only made worse by the worsening condition of his mother, slowly dying at home and the family unable to pay for the medications she needs.
Trying to break Andrew out of his funk, Matt takes him to a party, where he's introduced to the most popular guy in school, Steve(Michael B. Jordan). Tell him that he and Matt have founded something really cool out in the woods, Andrew reluctantly follows them into a cavernous sinkhole, where they discover a strange glowing object. Rather than doing the smart thing and running for the hills, they touch it, forcing it to emit a piercing shriek, knocking the boys unconscious.
Trank doesn't show us the immediate effects, instead skipping ahead in time, when the three have gained some knowledge of their mysteriously granted powers. In the beginning, these powers unite them as best friends, testing out their newfound abilities in silly exercises that could only spring from the mind of teenage boys, like creating a gust of wind to lift up cheerleaders' skirts. It isn't long before they start to figure out that their powers are growing exponentially the more they're used, almost like a muscle, and after Andrew goes a bit too far it's time to start setting some ground rules.
But if there's one thing angry youths don't like, it's a bunch of people telling them what to do. Especially when you've been held back for as long as Andrew has. Seeing his powers as not only a means of exacting vengeance against those who wronged him, but also as something of a birthright considering the turmoil he's lived through. Exploiting it just enough, he's happy with the limited amount of school-wide celebrity it affords him, but it's nothing like the real popularity of his two friends. Jealousy quickly gives way to rage, and soon Andrew is on a dangerous, super powered tailspin.
With a script co-written by Trank and Max Landis(the son of filmmaker John Landis), Chronicle puts a real world spin on what has always been the most interesting aspect of the superhero/supervillain divide, and that is how they came to be. The theory has always been that it takes a certain level of arrogance to become a hero, and an equal level of anguish to become a bad guy. In Chronicle, just as in most comic books, the one we deem the villain never sees himself as such, and it can be argued there isn't truly one in the film. Watching Andrew, Matt, and Steve develop into who they will ultimately become is consistently fascinating. While all three are perfectly cast, it's DeHaan who makes the biggest impression, and as Andrew his desperation to get out of his pathetic life is the film's driving force.
That's not to say it's all good. While Trank makes rational use of the handheld cam, there are some scenes where it's presence doesn't make a whole lot of sense, even for Andrew who seems to be obsessed with recording everything for some future audience. The introduction of a love story between Matt and and video blogger named Ashley goes nowhere, except to make her a potential damsel in distress. She would have been better used as a point of contention between the friends.
Still, these are minor complaints in a film that features a number of new faces I can't wait to see in other projects. While the budget isn't huge, Trank makes the most out of what are fairly simple special effects, saving the big stuff for the destructive finale that makes me think what a live-action Akira should look like. It's no wonder he's being looked at to possibly relaunch the Fantastic Four film franchise, as he knows exactly how to capture the wonder that comes with discovering the scope of amazing powers. As the boys put their strength to the test, they eventually learn to fly, and it's like we're right there with them as they savor this wondrous experience.
Clocking in at only 80 minutes, Chronicle doesn't get bogged down in deep messages, and yet it still manages to be one of the smartest superhero movies we've seen in a very long time.
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