“Chronicle” took the No. 1 box office spot during the weekend it came out in theaters. This super-hero movie is worth watching for people who enjoy sci-fi, incredible graphics, and the relatable experiences that young adults go through.
This movie, directed by Josh Trank, centers around Andrew (Dane DeHaan), a bullied senior in high school, who starts to document every moment of his life. Most scenes are from the shaky perspective of Andrew’s video camera, so it feels like watching a long video blog on You Tube. His video blogs capture what it’s like to be brutally bullied at school and live under an abusive, alcoholic father.
One day, his popular cousin, Matt (Alex Russell), takes Andrew to a rave so that he can meet new people and learn to be social. There, Steve (Michael B. Jordan), an all-around candidate for senior class president, notices that Andrew has a video camera and takes him to film a hole that Matt and Steve found in the woods. Out of burning curiosity, the three of them enter the hole and make an incredible discovery. The rest is history.
The scenes that come immediately after are Andrew, Matt, and Steve testing out their telekinetic powers. They start out small from building Legos with their minds and then move on to larger trials like moving someone’s car to another parking spot and levitating themselves.
All fun aside, Matt and Steve start to worry about Andrew after he used his power to hurt another person. Although they agree to follow a set of rules to limit their power usage, things spiral out of control as Andrew uses his power to find money to afford his sick mom’s medicine. One event leads to another and causes Andrew’s built-in anger to be released. An all-out rage leads to much destruction of the city.
Andrew played a troubled and threatening character really well. His sinister facial expressions and disturbing actions set the chilling mood near the end of the movie. Despite his temperament, the audience can only sympathize for him due to his family and social background.
The graphics are incredible and the three main characters are realistic because their super powers test their morality and what it takes to discipline themselves. Their conversations and decisions about their super powers made me think about what I would have done in their situation. Would I have been reckless like Andrew or cautious like Matt and Steve? Also, the close brotherly bonds that they form create a touching story. On top of that, the audience may feel like they are actually experiencing the sequence of the plot first-hand because of the style that the movie was shot in.
Although the movie is shorter in time length than the norm (it was about an hour long), it definitely has a fresh style and a different feel to it than the latest Hollywood movies. It is a must-watch for 2012.
