Chronicle

CHRONICLE (15)

D: Josh Trank

20th Century Fox (John Davis & Adam Schroeder)

USA 🇺🇸 2012

83 mins

Science Fiction

W: Max Landis

DP: Matthew Jensen

Ed: Elliott Greenberg

Dane DeHaan (Andrew Detmer), Alex Russell (Matt Garetty), Michael B. Jordan (Steve Montgomery), Michael Kelly (Richard Detmer), Ashley Hinshaw (Casey Letter)

There has been a huge growth of this new genre of documentary-style movies, filmed in a home video/YouTube style of all being caught on a single camcorder.

Some of these I really enjoy (Cloverfield, [rec]) and some of them I don't (Paranormal Activity- why it's so popular I'll never know!!).

Chronicle falls between the two stools... It's got a great concept, but there is a definite flaw in its execution. Pinpointed by a very weak final 20 minutes.

The story follows three school friends who document their new-found superhuman abilities on a camcorder, but one of them loses his ability to control them due to a volatile family life, bullying & unpopularity at school, as well as his own paranoia. Personally, I felt this film didn't really need the gimmick of documentary-style photography. There's a good film lost here. A real shame as I expected more from a fantastic premise.

6/10