Chronicle Is Truly Amazing. At Least I Think It Is
I’m calling it. 5 years from now there is going to be a Choice Is Yours and it is going to be Chronicle against Chronicle…as this movie has no competition. Chronicle is the first movie I have seen in a long time that when it ended I wanted to go right back in and see it again.
So now I am just trying to figure out if this was just a ME thing or if it was actually amazing. My compadre in movie watching crime thought it was great, and when I was listening in on other people talking I heard a lot of “WOW, that was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.” So take that how you will. First a refresher. As Whole Milk pointed out the film is written by Max Landis, son of John Landis. Chronicle is both Max’s and director Josh Trank‘s first feature, probably not for long though.
One reason some people seem hesitant to take Chronicle seriously is because of it’s place in the “found footage” subgenre but it works here for two reasons. First, without the firstperson camera I think the movie would have been straight up BAD. It is the camera that makes the movie so PERSONAL and affecting. Second, they do a really good job of making the camera make sense…jumping from sources/angles, using the powers to get different shots etc etc. Trust me, it all works.
Other great things? Big shout out to Michael B. Jordan aka Wallace from The Wire aka Vince Howard from Friday Night Lights for holding it down yet again and moving higher and higher on my favorite actors list. Also, although I loved the whole movie, the last 20 minutes are just INSANE.
I don’t really want to talk about the plot too much other than to say it is about “Kids Getting Powers.” A lot of people have been claiming this to be a superhero movie which…it really isn’t. Yes, the kids have superpowers but they aren’t really starting new lives with them but just incorporating them into their normal lives with varying results. Honestly the only thing I can really think to compare it to is Akira.
I think at the end of the day that is why I loved Chronicle so much. When I was a youngster I would fantasize about having powers and using them on the daily, not running off and fighting evil…WAYYYYYY too much work. Amiright? Anyway, if you liked the trailer even a little bit I think you owe it to yourself to go see Chronicle.
- Dr. Dinosaur
February 10th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
looks sick! thanks!
February 10th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Dude, spot on review! …and yes, a totally awesome Akira-esque ending!
…the only knock I could give this amazing flick was how weakly they inserted the girl filmmaker interest (Casey Letter) into the story… seemed trite, but helped move the relationship parts of the story along… though everyone is buzzing about how she’ll be the focus of a sequel, as “she becomes obsessed with figuring out what happened to these dudes”
…what do you think?
February 12th, 2012 at 1:25 am
Yeah now that I think of it that girl kind of sucks…chicks always ruin bro-fests though. If the sequel is all about that chick then I am for real don’t care.
I honestly don’t even want to think about a sequel…like of course its coming but this was the perfect amount of story that I wanted. I like that they didn’t explain anything really.
February 12th, 2012 at 3:01 am
This movie was sooooo good. First time I’ve felt like that in a while after a movie. Like you said i wanted to watch again or see more!!! The camera work was innovative and incredible!! Impressed.Go SEE, and also the review/article was spot on!
February 12th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
spot on with the akira reference. I felt like a lot of inspiration was drawn from that respectfully. like the hospital scene when he blows up the hospital room…I damn near stood up and was like “AKIRA!!!!”