Review #577: 'Chronicle' (2012)

Barely a week goes by these days without another superhero film. They are no longer simply movies for pale-skinned nerds still living with their mothers, but complex, emotional character studies, complete with high-octane action and some of the best special-effects that money can buy. Yet for every The Dark Knight Rises (2012), there's a Jonah Hex (2009), proving that such a luxury in abundance is not necessarily a good thing. You can not simply give a character powers, dress him in a silly suit, and expect box-office millions - something that especially Marvel have realised, who place serious consideration into their output and making some left-field production choices in terms of cast and crew. Clearly aware of this, director Josh Trank and screenwriter Max Landis created a superhero film with a twist, incorporating that other popular sub-genre, the found-footage movie, and with Chronicle, we have something very familiar, yet deceptively fresh.

Teenager Andrew (Dane DeHaan), starts to videotape his life, documenting everything from the domestic abuse he suffers from the hands of his father, his dying mother, and his unhappy school life. His only real friend is his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), who he was close to growing up, but drifted away from as they both got older. After being attacked and thrown out of a party, Andrew is approached by the popular Steve (Michael B. Jordan), who asks Andrew to capture something strange he and Matt have found, which turns out to be a tunnel hiding a glowing crystalline object. As a result, the trio start to develop telekinetic abilities that cause their noses to bleed when they overreach themselves, but working like a muscle, getting stronger with practice. But after Andrew pushes a rude driver into a ditch, almost killing him, they agree to limit the use of their powers, especially when used against other humans, which proves difficult as Andrew's psychological unbalance begins to reveal itself.

Chronicle's plot naturally put a lot of faith into the character of Andrew. Everything is viewed through his 'eyes', with his ever-present camera placing a psychological boundary between him and the real world. He is an often pathetic, unlikeable protagonist, but in the hands of Dane DeHaan, Andrew is simply fascinating to watch - an unconventional, multi-dimensional anti-hero. I predicted big things for DeHaan after his portrayal of gay, angry teenager Jessie in HBO's excellent In Treatment, where he even managed to overshadow Gabriel Byrne, and his terrific performance here will surely allow him to go on to bigger and better things (although so far I have only seen him in small roles in Lawless and Lincoln (both 2012)). Watching Andrew slowly lose his grip on reality and lose himself in the idea that he is an apex predator is like watching the birth of a great comic-book villain.

The found-footage approach works surprisingly well, giving a realism to the various scenes of (often brutal) violence, and some entertaining light-touches as they record themselves playing with their powers in Youtube style. The 'problem' with someone having to hold the camera is rectified when Andrew realises he can use his telekinetic abilities to operate the camera, leading to an inspired scene where the trio play football in the clouds, having discovered they can fly. The slightly underwhelming climax over-reaches itself, abandoning the found-footage technique completely and losing itself amongst all the special effects and the film doesn't have anything new to say about the damning effects of power, but this is a minor quibble in what is an exciting, well-acted, and strangely believable superhero film.


Directed by: Josh Trank
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie