CHRONICLE (2012 - Cert 12A)

Do you remember that first episode of Heroes? When we first meet Clare the cheerleader? Seen from a distance via a handheld camera she jumps from a great height and lands with a dull thud, only to get up straight away, crack her bones back into place and walk away seemingly unharmed. Remember that? Well Josh Trank and Max Landis, the director and screenwriter of Chronicle, clearly do, because their film is essentially an extension of that short scene (complete with the found footage premise - more on that later), while also asking what may have happened had Peter Parker been a stroppy teenager. 'With great power comes great responsibility'. What if that power falls into the hands of someone totally irresponsible?



Three high school mates (1 geek/social recluse, 1 class heartthrob/school president and 1 normal bloke) take a break from a barn rave and find a meteor in a hole in the ground. After the encounter they discover that they all have the power of telekineses (if you're not sure what that is, there is a handy explanation/blatant plot exposition in the film). As they begin learning how to use their powers it's all fun and games, messing about in the garden and playing practical jokes. It can't stay like that forever though, the dynamic in the relationships shift and it plays out like an angsty teenage drama. Only with teenagers that can move cars just with a thought.

I didn't go in with particularly great expectations, it's a rubbish name, the trailer did make it all look a bit silly. And I had reservations about the found footage thing, surely time has been called on that for the moment. Perhaps it was those relatively low expectations, but I came out surprised at just how much I enjoyed it.

It's not nearly as fluffy as the trailer and 12A certificate would suggest. It starts with the suggestion of one of the characters being abused by his father, a mother spends much of the film on her deathbed, this isn't light viewing. As the character's powers ramp up a bit, the film continues to get darker, violence is not remotely cartoony, people don't just get up after a punch, they bleed and stay down. The characters are interesting, fully fleshed out and well acted (Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell and Michael B Jordan (I wonder why he felt the need to add the middle initial...)). Despite the inevitable cliche or two and the occasional clunky dialogue usually associated with this type of film they never irritate or grate. In fact, it's quite the opposite, they all have a certain charm, particular in the light hearted section where they test out their abilities, they are genuinely funny. Once the barrier of character likeability has been broken down, the battle has been mostly won. Remember how irritating the opening scene of Cloverfield was? The smug personifications of contrivance walking around a loft party? That, thankfully, does not apply here.

It's far from original though. It clearly rifts, references and relies on a whole host of films, TV shows, comics and video games - X-Men First Class, Smallville, InFamous and Heroes to name some. I think that the makers of the film believe that their USP is the handheld cam/found footage device. However, as we have seen in recent years it's a tool that's powers are really on the wane, unless you do something really interesting with it (like with Trollhunter), it feels tired and worn. If you are going to use that device then you also need to really believe in it, and it struck me that Trank and Landis didn't. They deviate from it in two ways, firstly (I'll come on to the second later) by utilising a female character and her social media video blog to give a second 'eye view'. Unfortunately for Chronicle it is even more of an obstacle in suspension of disbelief than the usual irritant of the person behind the camera trying to justify why they won't turn the camera off - 'I've got to document this dude'. It created an immediate barrier between me and the content. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, and then it started to lose me.

Having said that, it didn't lose me for long. As we reach the climax the tone gets darker and darker and it is far from predictable. When it paused I was pleased to see that I really was on edge and eager to know where it was going.

Well I'll tell you where it went in the end.

For those of you that watched the first series of Heroes, do you remember how it had you all the way through, cliffhanger after cliffhanger, twists and turns, all the while hinting at and alluding to a climax of huge proportions, a face off between good and evil, a coming together of all of the powers that each episode cleverly unravelled and brought to the fore? Then you reached the end, and although it was good, it was gripping, and it did work, you couldn't help but wonder where the fizz, bang and wallop was. Well it was clearly put in the loft to be saved for when Chronicle would be made. Wallop indeed. This is also where the camera footage idea shifts again, all be it slightly and less disastrously. Wisely, the film-makers realised that showing what they wanted to show on one handheld camera was going to be a stretch and, frankly, a bit silly, so there is a collection of CCTV, news coverage and in police-car camera footage. It all works very well actually. Watching what you're seeing in silent CCTV is impressive to see and manages to have much more impact than you would imagine. Impressively, the film also has the conviction to keep the momentum of it's increasing darkness all the way to the end.

All in all, a much better film than I expected. An interesting, well executed (aside from a couple of gripes), exciting companion piece to the flood of big budget, glossy and daft superhero films streaming out of the studios.

Ideal for a double bill with X-Men: First Class.