Chronicle

Expectations:

For multiple reasons, I didn't quite know what to expect with Chronicle. It's sitting at 84% on the Tomatometer, which is rather impressive for this type of film. Before I checked out the Tomatometer, however, I really didn't think it would get great reviews. It is pretty much common knowledge that found-footage films are either loved or hated (example: The Blair Witch Project vs. Apollo 18). I was thinking that Chronicle might fall towards the hated end of the spectrum, but my opinion was based solely on the trailer. For me, the trailer was very intriguing, but it also was a bit dorky. I was mostly afraid that the characters were going to be very unrealistic teenagers who blurted out one senseless line after another. Chronicle was saved, in my book at least, by the Tomatometer score, which convinced me to watch it...

Plot:

If you haven't seen the trailer, these high school kids find something that gives them these "force-like" powers. As you can tell in the trailer, one of the kids starts using his powers in bad ways, and trouble ensues. I think I would have rather not known that he was going to end up bad, but, either way, I was rather impressed. The action was rather good for a found-footage kind of film. What made Chronicle different was that they used any and every camera that might have seen something from the story, which allowed you to see a lot of stuff that you wouldn't get from just one camera. As is with most found-footage films, there are many unanswered questions, but I personally love to be left guessing.

Characters:
Of all of the found-footage films that I have seen ever, Chronicle is the only one that truly develops a deep character background. Andrew Detmer, played by Dane DeHaan, is the main character, and the audience knows so so much about his character that we can actually feel for him, which was extremely surprising to me. The other two main characters, Matt and Steve (played by Alex Russell and Michael B. Jordan), didn't get as much background revelation, but we did know a good bit about them. The relationship between the characters was not at all what I expected, and I really didn't expect the depth with the main character, who had many many issues.

Best Character: Although it is rare, I believe the best character had to be Andrew, the main character. There really weren't many cast members to choose from, but, at times, I was very impressed with DeHaan's performance. Andrew had a tough life, and, once he finally had something going for him, he couldn't handle it at all. His character was very deep for a Sci-Fi thriller.

Worst Character: To be honest, this honor was not at all hard to pick. Casey Letter, played by Ashley Hinshaw, was the most pointless addition to any movie I have seen in a long, long time. She had absolutely no point, aside from allowing us to view (through her camera) a bit of Matt's back story.

Conclusion:
I must say that I was politely surprised by Chronicle, as a whole. Certainly there were issues with predictability, but I was expecting the whole thing to be a typical found-footage film. The amount of character depth and emotion really surprised me, and I believe it would surprise you. I truly wish that the trailer wouldn't have been as revealing, because it would have been nice not to know that one of the kids was going to turn evil, but, unfortunately, we can't change the past. Chronicle is a great option for any Sci-Fi/Action lover out there. There are a few dorky moments, but, overall, it's pretty good for a movie about high schoolers. I give Chronicle 2.7 out of 5 stars.