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Chronicle

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan
Directed by: Josh Trank
Screenplay by: Max Landis

    I wish I could move stuff with my mind.  I really do, but I can't.  So instead, I'll just review Chronicle.
    Three high school friends are at a party one night and they discover this strange thing.  Is it a giant colorful rock?  Is it a meteor?  We'll never know.  But we know what it does.  It gives these three friends the ability to move things around with their minds.  At first, it seems that this new ability brings the friends closer together, and everything begins to go great for them.  Will they be able to still be friends long after they discover this ability, or will it tear them apart, and how will it affect everyone else around them?
    The story is somewhat cliche.  It's not that original.  People find something strange and what do they do?  The stupid thing.  They go up to it and touch it, then strange things happen to them.  We've seen this before.  But, it's entertaining.
    So this might not have the steadiest camera angles, and it may not be the best cinematography I've ever seen.  However, there are a few scenes where there are shots that will make you wonder, "how in the world do they do that?" For example, there's one part where one of the characters moves the camera with his mind, and we see the camera that is originating the shot in a mirror.  In short, we can see the camera floating.  The whole movie is shot in the style of Cloverfield and looks like a movie made by amateurs, even though it really isn't.  However, Cloverfield showed us that this kind of movie has the potential to be extremely bad.  Chronicle shows us otherwise.
    There are some very cheesy special effects that are easy to point out.  Some items that float are so clearly photoshopped in that it's not even funny.  I guess that's what happens in a low budget film such as this.
    While it may not be terribly original, it is well executed and entertaining all the way until the very end.  This is a film for just about any teenager, even those who aren't Sci-Fi fanatics like me.  It's what I call, a not for mom movie.  It's only 83 minutes long, but worth the price of admission.
    This film is chronicled in this blog at a B+.

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