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Enjoy trolling? Enjoy watching people get trolled? Here's your movie. Chronicle stumbled into theaters thoroughly undervalued. Although it does have its flaws, it has paved an entirely new route in the worn-out genre of superheroes. Chronicle brings all the major superhero questions into play—Where did our powers come from? How should we use our powers? In the end, however, those questions are irrelevant. This movie is not about three superheroes. It is about three teenage boys who just happen to have super powers.

This movie is quite extraordinary. All three of the main actors are unknowns. When the movie begins, they all promise to me stereotyped high schoolers—the popular one, the outcast, and the stoner. As the movie progresses, those stereotypes become worthless. These actors were up to the challenge. Each main character changes so much that you won't recognize them from beginning to end. Mix this with the unique storyline and this movie has an extremely strong core.

A good deal of this movie is enjoyable simple because it is realistic to life. The bullying is brutal. The type of things that the main characters do with their powers is exactly what I would do. That's the shining point of this movie. It is true to life. It doesn't cover up life or try to smooth it over with simplifications. This movie is beautiful with its honesty. It allows the viewer to laugh hysterically one moment and cringe the next.

The problems are minor but still present. The incredible climax is followed up with a lackluster conclusion. The father's character is rather over-the-top. I can't tell if it was the writing or the acting that made it so. These two facts won't pull you away from enjoying the movie. It's just too bad that such a good movie would end on such a low note.

This movie is worth seeing. Some people will have trouble watching it in theaters because it is a shot from the first person and can be jerky at times. If you are okay with that, I would recommend seeing it in the theatre. I saw this movie with a large audience—which appeared to add to the experience. For the average Joe, this will be an enjoyable movie. For the superhero fan, this could be a cult classic.

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I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this film. Excellent directing, screenplay, cinematography and editing. Casting and performances were perfect, especially Dane DeHaan, who's screen presence is incredible in this film. The simplistic teen-target audience I understand, but I would've liked this to be a bit more mature. Still, a nice little gem and a well deserved 8/10 from me.

Ever since the breakout success of 1999's The Blair Witch Project, the found footage film has become a subgenre in its own right. In a similar vein to Blair Witch, the Paranormal Activity series has found great financial success with their comparatively meagre budgets, and Cloverfield in 2008 proved that, even on a larger scale, the handycam aesthetic can deliver effective thrills when employed by filmmakers who have a solid understanding of the style. Josh Trank's Chronicle represents an evolution of the found footage genre, taking the character as cameraman conceit to interesting new places, and marking the director as a young talent worth monitoring.

Chronicle differs from predecessors like Cloverfield in the sense that this handycam footage isn't presented as 'found' per se, but rather is a stylistic and narrative choice which puts a refreshingly original spin on a well overdone story: the superhero origin. After encountering a strange, glowing object in a deep underground cave, high schoolers Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan) discover they have telekinetic powers which allow them to move objects with their mind. Matt considers the powers to be like a muscle, which can be strengthened through training, and after beginning small eventually the trio build superhuman strength and, to their delight, the ability to fly. The special effects betray a small budget at times, but the initial flying sequences are breathlessly entertaining, and the pure joy of the characters makes them more effective than most mega-budget blockbusters. These are meant to be regular kids, and although the story loses focus as the scale grows towards the climax, the early scenes are surprisingly genuine and affecting. But make no mistake, this is an origin story (one which doesn't necessarily beg for a sequel however), and Trank and his co-writer Max Landis (son of John Landis) use the visceral, in-your-face nature of the found footage to breathe life into a genre which has come dangerously close to wearing out its welcome in the past decade.

As is the case with almost all science-fiction, a lot more can be read into Chronicle than what is happening on the surface. Aside from the excitement of fighting and flying about, there is a very real human story at work, with a lot of teenage life's triumphs and tragedies. Trank and Landis clearly poured their own experiences into the film, with the three leads seeming like people from everyone's high school years. Added to this is a nice element of self-reflexivity as Andrew, an unpopular misfit, uses his camera to define himself, and how he sees the world. The old adage about writing what you know seems to ring true in the case of Chronicle, and seeing Andrew learn to move his camera in more dynamic ways thanks to his new found powers is perhaps the tiniest hint of autobiography from Trank. The film is filled with subtle aspects such as this which will probably be missed by most, but thankfully simply taking Chronicle at face value is a rewarding experience, proving that the superhero origin story is not dead, it just needs a good shake up from time to time.

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One day a loner kid whose mother is dying and his injured former-firefighter dad abuses him decides to film everything. That ostracizes him more from him peers because he runs around everywhere with some giant camera on this shoulder.

After a party his philosophizing cousin and another friend ask him to film what they found- a large perfectly circular hole in the ground. They jump into it and follow along the cave to find some alien looking giant glowing mineral. Something happens and the the filming is interrupted.

When the filming continues after some time we find them in the backyard controlling a baseball with their minds. Since the incident, they've developed telekinesis. At first with small objects, then larger ones, then themselves. They take their powers public bothering innocent people in stores and parking lots. Then they lean how to levitate and eventually fly.

When the poor loner kid's mom is one the verge of dying, the kid puts on a protective suit and tries to rob a gas station to get meds for his mom. On his way out, the attendant shoots at him; an explosion ensues and the kid catches on fire. He ends up in the hospital. Even there, and after the mom's death, the father will blame him and try to abuse him. The kid loses it completely. Having realized he's an apex predator and that the strong destroy the weak, he's now ready to unleash his powers and destroy all who get in his way. It's left to his cousin to try and stop him.

Chronicle overall has a good idea. It's entertaining to watch the kids develop and tame their powers and experimenting with them out there in the world. The filming is part POV, part third person because fortunately, the kid learns to control cameras and has them swarming around him. Thankfully, even when he has his old camera, the quality of the footage is excellent- unlike those poor bastards in horror movies who are forever condemned to film stuff in dismal quality grainy video. So at least that makes the POV stuff tolerable. But Chronicle retains the weaknesses of that kind of movie. It's boring at times, the portrayal of relationships overall is pretty poor- the relationship between the cousin and some girl is just awful, and eventually you end up with people just screaming at each other. Still, the entertaining aspects outweigh the negatives and this movie offers something we don't see often.

The next in a long line of "found footage" flicks that have been flooding our cinemas over the last few years, Chronicle breaks free of the usual constraints within that sub genre to concoct a truly memorable sci-fi thriller. Retracing the steps of three teenage friends who are gifted with telekinesis after a chance encounter with something (intelligently, the movie never stipulates what exactly), the story focuses on the varying paths they take with their new found talent, but not until they have had some juvenile fun with it first. This is an amazingly accomplished debut feature for writer-director Josh Trank (who co-penned the script with Max "son of John" Landis); his technical veracity is utterly mind-blowing – especially when you consider the shoestring funds he had to work with – and his narrative pacing is impeccable. The icing on the already yummy cake is the marvellous CGI that allows our protagonists to fly, crush cars and stop baseballs in mid air – all seamlessly and photo-realistically. Chronicle is a tremendous achievement in low-budget, big-concept filmmaking.

I'm normally not a big fan of the handycam filming technique. In the beginning it was all new and okay but personally I think they should stop that technique. It doesn't do movies any good. Not that Chronicle is a bad movie though. It's definitely something else then the usual superhero movies that we see so much lately. Here three kids get telekinetic super powers after discovering a strange thing underground. What starts as a bit of fun quickly escalates in catastrophes. The story is easy to follow. It's different then the usual action heroes that use their powers to fight evil. The actors are all quite young and are not bad. Thinking about what they do with their powers makes me realize that I would probably try the same things. But it's all fiction. So all in all it's an entertaining movie to watch.

Chronicle is one of those films that kind of snuck up on everyone and may very well have slid under the radar if not for a somewhat dead weekend in February and good word of mouth. And it's rightfully earned. After last weeks fantastic The Grey, the new year continues to produce good film with one of the most interesting takes on the comic book film in a long time.

Now, you might be tempted to blow this off as another low budget, shaky cam movie ala Paranormal Activity, but you'd be wrong. Firstly, this is a film that establishes it's lead "camera men" as experienced with a camera, so shaky cam is mostly gone from the film. We also have some other rather interesting excuses for better than average faux-doc filming, namely the main character's ability to levitate his camera around to get multiple angles. Suffice to say, the camera work is mostly good and legitimized so it never feels like it's too good. So, if you fear that this is just another poorly made hand-held excursion, fear not. This is a very well made hand-held excursion.

The story itself is nothing terribly new or original. A group of teens inexplicably get super powers from some weird, glowy crystals and that's about it. But where most stories about super powered people might find them fighting evil or exploring human nature, Chronicle takes it's time to show a more realistic approach. Our characters play pranks, gain popularity, and try to just have fun. Also realistic are how the powers come out in other forms, manifesting the inner turmoil of one troubled teen who becomes too powerful for his own good. Although the story may not be wholly original, the script is pretty good and the films take on both the hand-held film sub genre and the super powered sub genre is good. This is a more grounded look at what might happen should we find ourselves with power we can't understand. We don't get noble causes or some epic quest to save the world, we simply get teens who are being teens, albeit with telekinetic abilities. I read this film compared to Carrie, and it's somewhat accurate, only this is Carrie x5.

It helps that the leads do a great job in their respective roles. They seem naturals as the teens, and DeHann in particular is great as the troubled Andrew. We can see what's to come, but when his turn finally comes, most noticeably in a scene involving a spider, it's a frightening wake up call to the true nature of the forces at work here. There is some reality in this film, and it's frightening to think what some might do with that kind of power if given it. Even with that last bit of darkness at the end of the film, it's fun, and shown in a very intimate way. Being so up close and personal with the action is exhilarating and there are moments when the film even feels like a ride for a time. There are several good scenes displaying the use of the teens power, but the final 15 minutes are some of the most exciting, super powered moments of any film of it's kind. The fact that it feels more realistic than, say, something like Iron Man makes it feel that much more exciting. It's like watching a high school fight, but pushed to the 10th degree.

Suffice to say, Chronicle was a pleasant surprise. It's the kind of film you hope to walk into. As a fan of comic book films, it was especially pleasing as it really shakes the genre and tries, successfully I might add, to do something very different. It could have been a complete disaster with typical hand-held filming and a typical story. But the smart and creative take on the genre makes this another in the great beginning of 2012.

Chronicle is not really a superhero movie. It uses its themes but none of the characters are using their powers for virtues and justice. It's all fun and games until they get into trouble. It's a great idea but it could have been filmed in a regular filmmaking style. The hand-held camera fails to make the film credible. Despite from that, the film tells a great story with a great twist. The actors are fun. The CGI is good enough. The film is short and small but it's undeniably exciting and really compelling than any other big blockbuster films we usually get.

Chronicle abandons the clichés of superhero films. Usually, when they discovered their powers, they use it to save someone and make their own costume and save the day. The movie asks, what will happen if teenagers in real life have superpowers? In this film, the kids are just recording themselves having fun with their powers. And one of them will use it more for revenge than saving the day. It's a clever idea.

It could have been filmed in a regular movie camera. The found-footage style is pretty unnecessary. The film doesn't need that to look credible. Also, there are too many random cameras and angles which is kind of awkward. Though, the shot was pretty good. But it's still unnecessary. The CGI works better in large objects. It looks dated when comes to the small ones like the spider and the legos. Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan are all fun together. It gets better in the third act. Dane DeHaan gives a great rage to Andrew. The climax is awesomely fun.

Chronicle may be short and small but it feels long and bigger. If only the film was shot in a regular style. But it still makes a great movie. The concept is great. It's fun, intense, and compelling enough to enjoy it in the big screen.

I'm an optimist. The reviews for this movie were all over the place. I wanted to believe the good ones. I was hoping the plethora of bad reviews were just lame attempts to drive the rating score down. I was wrong.

The premise was intriguing to me, even if it wasn't original. But the execution failed on several levels.

The characters were not likable. They were just hormonal idiots. That's the fatal flaw. The nonsensical ways these fools use their new powers just makes you shake your head.

Imagine you have these new powers and abilities. What would you do with that? Think about all of the great things you could accomplish. Instead we are lead down a road of violence and murder. The screen writing was weak. A great premise wasted.

Here's a question for you: You need money because your mom is dying. You have super powers of levitation and strength. Do you: A. Grab some ATMs and get the money you need or, B. Rob a convenience store and get shot?

I hate movies that have promise that deliver so very little. In this case, I did not get my $1.25 value from this movie rental.

Josh Trank's "Chronicle" comes at a time where "found footage" movies are all too common and gimmicky. Hot on the heels of "The Blair Witch Project", "Cloverfield" and "Paranormal Activity" (all of which are scary films), big movie studios are wringing this concept dry in order to save huge costs and make millions worldwide. Of course, the public soon grew tired of the "fake documentary" style and excessive "realistic" shaky camera as a result.

"Chronicle" isn't a horror movie, however. I'd like to think of it as a superhero origin film without the usual glorified stuff, sort of like M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" but with more youthful angst. At first glance it could be called a comedy, and soon after the midpoint that's where things go dark. After a mysterious discovery three teens suddenly develop superpowers which they decide to use for fun. You got Andrew the anti-social loner who constantly faces sh*t every day at home and at high school, his cousin Matt who uses philosophy to justify his own loneliness, and the popular and well to do high school jock Steve who wants to help Andrew get lucky. All three use their powers for pranks and flying and other fun stuff (if one of them was Peter Parker, Uncle Ben would be rolling in his grave) until Andrew accidentally injures someone with his powers out of anger. Youthful rage, indeed. Telekinesis is no worse than a gun or a knife when placed in the wrong, and especially angry, hands.

From these three main characters the foundation is set for character development and conflict. The home footage, like all "found footage" films, definitely gives the dramatic scenes some punch, specifically with Andrew the unlucky one. The film is mostly seen from his point of view so we understand his motive as his new-found powers being to chip away his withdrawn exterior and he begins to lash out at everyone who opposes him. It is villainous, but it isn't evil, it's just tragic. Brian De Palma's "Carrie" comes to mind, except less bloody and on a more destructive scale (still around the PG-13 limit). The audience is treated to a ticking time bomb of a character while the other two try to reason with him, inevitably leading to a violent and tragic confrontation. A real hero and villain face-off.

Trank and fellow writer Max Landis (son of fellow filmmaker John Landis) succeeded with the character development here, we are not so intimidated by Andrew as we do feeling sympathetic for him. The writers do not care about the origins of their powers as they do with the emotional effects it will have on the three characters. Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell and Michael B. Jordan, the three main actors, are all new to me, but they give very convincing and entertaining performances, especially DeHaan who looks like he can have a rich career ahead of him.

Trank directs the film briskly and confidently. The editing doesn't feel forced, and the various camera formats (home video, CCTV) spliced together gives a raw atmosphere throughout the film (a staple of "found footage" films) which makes for a more interesting and exciting watch, specifically during the climax where Seattle comes under attack by Andrew's rage in scenes reminiscent of Katushiro Otomo's "Akira" (I doubt Jaume Collet-Serra will be as good as Trank in making his remake as engaging as this scene alone).

The special effects crew, given the budget, manage to make the destruction and the mayhem feel threatening and not just exciting. The camera work was nicely done as well as it wasn't as aggressively shaky as expected from this type of film, we even manage to view the action in its fury during the climax. It's clear Trank wasn't going for the "woah" feeling and instead was aiming for the gut. Not bad for a first feature film.

Despite some clichéd moments and a few plot holes, "Chronicle" stands on its own right as simply a solid, good film, not just a light surprise in the "found footage" department. It is a real movie, with interesting, fleshed out characters and a coherent, fluid story structure, instead of being just another "remnant of whatever happened". I wouldn't mind seeing it a second time, but I'll probably wait for the DVD/Blu-ray rental. Oh, and I hope those teens who watch this movie will at least stop bullying whoever they are bullying. They'll never know until its too late. Poor Andrew.

Overall: 73%

No doubt about it, this is one of the most original superhero movies ever made but does it also rank among the best? I don't think so.

A found-footage movie, involving a couple of youngster who gain superhero-like powers. That, in one short sentence, is the best way to describe this movie. This premise alone is already a quite original one, that of course gives the movie a more realistic sense to it as well. And this is all very welcome of course. It adds a whole new, other dimension, to both the found-footage and superhero movie genre.

Basically it's being a very pleasant, little movie, to watch because it's taking a very straightforward approach with things. There are hardly any side-plots and the movie has a very natural flow to it. Besides, they were being pretty creative at times with the use of the camera(s). You might perhaps worry that it's constantly doing the same thing, with also the same camera-angels time in, time out but the movie found a clever way to use multiple different cameras at times and to make the whole movie also more dynamic to watch.

But really, no matter how hard it tries to come across as realistic at times, it just isn't of course. I mean, after all, this is a movie about kids with superpowers. They fly through the air like Superman and smash cars like the Hulk. You could shoot it in a realistic way but it's just never going to look as such, also in this case due to it, that the movie had some pretty poor special effects in it, at certain crucial points, which also took me out of the movie at times.

Another thing that just didn't made the movie all that realistic for me was its acting. The kids in this movie just aren't all that great. At times they sound good and very natural but at others it just sounds far too scripted and they obviously didn't had much big acting experience yet.

Still the whole approach of this movie and how its story and characters progress and develop in a realistic and very straight-forward way, make this movie a real perfectly watchable and certainly also original one.

7/10

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Throughout the years, audiences have been treated to origin stories such as those based on superheroes. With the recent success of the Batman, X-Men, Spider-Man films; and also worth mentioning "Thor" "X-Men:First Class", and "Captain America", it's not hard to see why they click with audiences. With "Chronicle", the superhero origin story is given a fresh new spin.

Directed by Joe Trank, "Chronicle" tells the story of three friends who gain superpowers from a mysterious tunnel discovered in a remote part of a suburban town. Strangely, these teens don't seem frightened or confused about their new found power. Think about how frightened and confused Bruce Banner was when he first transformed into the Hulk. But whereas Hulk was bombarded with gamma rays, "Chronicle" takes a swipe at a fairly plausible Dues Ex Machina plot device that has yet to be explained in possible future installments.

It's true that some may find fault with it's vignette-style story telling in the vein of "Cloverfield". But unlike "Cloverfield" which was a good film in it's own right but had a little too much "shaky-cam" effect, the technique is surprisingly easy to follow. That along with the well-written script and performances, made "Chronicle" all the more enjoyable and engrossing. Maybe in the future, film-makers should take notice from this film in order to make a superb product. Not only that, they even managed to achieve believable special effects on a low budget along with the script. That's really impressive that they achieved to reach fans of superhero comics and films as well as the general audience; very unique.

But I really wished it was longer. With such an intriguing premise even more better than Hayden Christensen's stinker of a superhero origin story "Jumper". "Jumper" was such a disappointment. It wasn't even fully developed on it's potential and sadly was utterly wasted. Thankfully, "Chronicle" delivers on everything that film didn't and more. The climax(which I will not spoil) is one of sheer awesomeness. Emotionally charged with a nice dash of good vs evil, done in an unconventional way. The length of the film bummed me out, but from the looks of things, I can see this film grow into something really special.

Chronicle is an engaging offspring of two very separate genres. Reality based horror / thriller movies and Super Hero's. Never would you have imagined a super hero origins movie being shot with a hand-held camera. They are often related to high octane action sequences and graphics and CGI. Well that thing doesn't change here either but the treatment is creative and thoroughly engaging. If suppose paranormal activity and any super hero movie were to mate, their offspring would have been called "Chronicle".

I think by now the "handheld camera" trick in films is becoming a little stale. Sure, it can help smaller productions and can make some films visually spectacular. However, it seems that it is used in way too many films, usually horror flicks at that. Chronicle, however, is nothing less than a masterpiece at not only the "found footage" style, but is also a brand new way of making a superhero movie, mainly because the people it centers on are far from heroes anyway. They are portrayed as everyday people. People with real problems and psychologies. All the larger than life characters of other sci fi or super hero movie is nowhere to be seen here.

Read the rest of the review at : http://devlifeintechnicolor.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/chronicle-a- realistic-take-on-sci-fi-action/

A clever spin on the super hero formula.

Three buddies find a bizarre glowing object buried in a hole in a field. After coming in contact with it, they find that they are able to move things (including themselves) with their minds, a power that grows increasingly stronger as they exercise it. But one of the three, a bullied outcast, sees the potential to use his powers to get back at a world that he hates, and what begins as mostly harmless teenage boy pranks and antics becomes serious and deadly.

I liked the question this movie posed: Under what obligation are people with super powers to use their powers responsibly? If this were a different kind of movie, that question might have been explored in more depth. But this isn't that kind of movie, and instead it heads into pretty standard good guy against bad guy standoff mode with a special effects-heavy climax. So while maybe not profound, it's still pretty entertaining.

It also happens to be indirectly disturbing in the wake of so many recent school rampages, the one in Newtown, Connecticut being most recent. There seems to be an undercurrent of rage percolating in America's youth that is venting itself in terrifying ways, and it's not hard to read this film as an allegory for the themes recurring in our media culture.

The only thing I distinctly disliked about this movie was the director's decision to film it in the "found footage" style. Everything in the movie is shot in first-person perspective, via someone's video camera, cell phone, etc. This is easy enough to accept at first, but becomes downright preposterous toward the end as victims continue to film (and quite adeptly at that) events even as they're trapped in cars being hurtled through the air. It's an unnecessary gimmick that takes the viewer out of the experience.

Grade: B

Like many of you, I gleamed at the trailer and poster with a heavy amount of skepticism. "Yet another superhero-esque film" I thought, this time brought to the screen with the increasingly hawkeyed hand-held style. Is this really necessary? Well no, its not, but its a lot of fun.

The plot you can decipher from the trailer; three teenagers, Andrew, Steve and Matt find a hole in the ground and uncover something that gives them the power to move things with their minds. Then they act as any normal teenager would if suddenly given superpowers, they goof off. Things however get murky when Andrew (Dane DeHaan) begins lashing out as his broken family life becomes too much for him to bare. Actors Michael B. Jordan and Alex Russell complete the triptych as the local high school's popular kid and Andrew's too-cool-for-school cousin.

Capturing teenage angst on film has always seemed like a real struggle for Hollywood. Common knowledge dictates that if you faced the camera towards a group of well groomed twenty-somethings and relegated them to a particular clique it'll all work out. Yet "Chronicle's" script expands on that world without making it "the film". Steve is popular because he is genuinely a sociable guy not because he's some feckless ladder climber. On the flip-side of the coin, Andrew is withdrawn and anti-social because his mother is ill and his father is an alcoholic with a rage problem. These are very real issues that are glossed over or ignored in average teen movies.

But this isn't just a coming-of-age tale, its also a showcase for emerging talents, director Josh Trank and screenwriter Max Landis. While some of the camera tricks and dialogue may seem contrived at times there's no denying their boundless creativity. Trank breathes new life into the 'Blair Witch' gimmick taking "footage" from a wide array of hand-held gadgetry to create a pretty convincing collage, or dare I say chronicle.

As the three climb into the hole to investigate one of them makes a reference to Plato's allegory of the cave. Perhaps a quote from 'Alice in Wonderland' would have been more apt. Like Alice all three are young, surprisingly accepting of the situation and about to enter a world where the natural laws of physics need not apply.

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Hmmmm... where to begin... well, due to good reviews on IMDb and Rotten Toms, guess what, I wasted my money and time on this really ugly, miserable rather ordinary and banal piece of nonsense.

Basically, it's the old story of how rage occurs when parents abuse their children, which is always tragic and which always has terrible consequences. In an attempt to put a new spin on an old human trauma-based social issue, the movie makers create a few tricks and some ... er.... whatever... about three teens coming into contact with deep underground crystals and developing paranormal powers.

Blood, tears, death, misery and a bunch of stuff occurs and oddly, in this day and age when police tend to shoot to kill and ask questions later, nah uh, not in this pic... first, they allowed their entire police force to be annihilated, whilst yelling politely, 'Stop right there, stop right there...' while buildings topple, buses are smashed into tenth story windows and cars are sent into oblivion... naturally... perhaps if all of this hadn't been in this terrible movie, we might have had to have a story and a conclusion not based on sentimental sloppy, lazy, lazy, lazy movie making.