At its heart "Chronicle" is very good, witty sci-fi film. On the surface it just doesn't seem to try. I wanted to like this film, and I did enjoy quite a bit of it, but the found footage style editing, and under acting from the three leads, made it a little difficult. The story is just another "don't pick on the moody loner, because he could be capable of more than you think" plot line that ends in the mass destruction of Seattle. Dane DeHaan plays Andrew, the aforementioned loner, who gains superpowers from unexplained source found in an underground cavern along with his cousin (Alex Russell) and the most popular kid in school ("Friday Night Lights'" Michael B. Jordan). The three test their powers and make discoveries together until Andrew gets out of control, because he's a moody loner, and that is what moody loners do. The writing is good in spots but never lets you really care about any of the characters, who are more stereotypes than people, and the editing is so quick they only seem to be there as camera transportation anyway (no matter how implausible it is that they would keep it around). If it would have been a straight forward film, I feel like Josh Trank and Max Landis could have had something worth seeing.
Grade: C-
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan
Director: Josh Trank
Writer: Max Landis - Story: Max Landis & Josh Trank
RT: 83 min
Rating: PG-13 for intense action and violence, thematic material, some language, sexual content and teen drinking
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