Chronicle (2012)
– With Chronicle, director Josh Trank
does something that I had to see to believe:
he combines my favorite film genre – superhero science-fiction – with my
least favorite film style – found footage.
The result is somewhat surprising, but entirely worth the 80 minutes it’ll
take to watch. Andrew (Dane DeHaan) and
his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) discover a mysterious object in the woods and,
with their class president friend Steve (Michael B. Jordan), gain the ability
to manipulate objects with their minds.
What happens next? Well, you know
that line about absolute power. Chronicle is one of the latest in the
real-life-superheroes genre, following on the heels of films like Watchmen, Kick-Ass, and, to a lesser extent, The Incredibles. Chronicle manages to do something slightly
different, though, developing the characters even before they gain their
powers; it’s a model that more superhero stories, I think, should follow, since
we’re already invested – particularly in Andrew – by the time the plot asks us
to be. Aside from the smart character
development courtesy of Max Landis’s screenplay, the film features some really
deft special effects; since the whole movie is purportedly being filmed by
Andrew’s camera, there’s a need for the effects to be particularly convincing
to maintain the illusion. (It helps that
Andrew eventually uses his powers to work the camera in a more conventional
manner.) Fortunately, the film succeeds
in rendering the trio’s powers effectively.
While the film’s racial and sexual politics are a bit wonky, the story Chronicle ends up telling is compelling
and engaging, galloping toward an inevitable but heart-wrenching conclusion. Its concision is one of its greatest
strengths, but what matters more is that Chronicle
is a sound story told well.
That does it for this week’s edition of “Monday at the Movies.” We’ll see you here next week!
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