Chronicle film review – Home Entertainment

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(Rating: 15, 84 mins) Written by Zen Terrelonge

Starring – Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan.

Remember Heroes? The wicked cool show that ran for four series’ but sadly lost its way after the third season? Yeah, we’re looking at you writers strike!

Chronicle is a bit like that, but around twice the length of an episode. With less people. And even less explanation, which is an achievement of its own entirely.

The three central characters are creepy and abused recluse Andrew (Dane DeHaan), too cool to be cool outsider and brain Matt (Alex Russell) and popular jock and potential class president Steve (Michael B. Jordan).

The trio band together when they discover a hole in the earth. And I don’t mean one created by a gopher. Well, unless it’s one huge mutated mega gopher with teeth like razors, and the body of a large bear, but I digress.

The hole is around 10ft deep, ten times as long, dark, spooky and houses a foreign something that changes the boys lives (it’s not the mutant gopher). The first being the disability to retain blood inside their noses.

Don’t panic, that’s not all. Telekinesis (the ability to move objects through conscious thought) follows, along with a couple of other special treats. The lads soon find that by training the powers as if they were training a muscle, they can develop their newfound gifts in the same way.

But, this isn’t X-Men, there isn’t a bald (or even haired) Charles Xavier on the scene to tutor the youths into the best possible way they can benefit from their powers and this begs the question/tagline, ‘what are you capable of’?

What would the average Joe do with superpowers? Especially in a climate where people are desperate at the hand of the recession. The concept is certainly interesting and again I reflect upon Heroes, which had a number of characters from all walks of life, that’s the same with Chronicle.

Andrew is abused physically and mentally by his father, while his mother is dying. His cousin Matt’s life isn’t really delved in to, though it seems pretty comfortable, while Steve has it all, good looks, winning smile and a house full of trophies and awards.

So no points for guessing who is happiest of all to discover his new abilities, becoming the strongest, most obsessed and drunk on power.

This is a ‘superhero’ flick brought into the real world, with real consequences and real people.

The full handheld coverage works perfectly, creating an added sense of authenticity to the plot, which manages to bypass the nausea brought along with J.J Abrams’, Cloverfield.

However, there are plot holes, ones as large as the location that the boys found their powers. I can’t help but think adding an extra 30 minutes onto the 84 minute film would have offered a better opportunity to fill in some of the cracks.

Somewhere along the way, the film also becomes a strange sort of comedy, as the thirst for power becomes mildly laughable, rather than truly threatening.

A solid first effort from debut writer/director Josh Trank but needs salt and maybe a dash of paprika.

6/10

Chronicle is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.