Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
Surprisingly Good
MovieMike - wrote on 01/25/2017
A trio of high school seniors stumble upon a strange underground object and shortly after coming in contact with it, they each develop telekinetic powers. While the plot sounds like something out of a 1950’s ‘B’ movie, ‘Chronicle’ plays it straight and earnestly – leveraging hand-held movie cams (think ‘Blair Witch Project’ or ‘Cloverfield’) to amazingly great effect in this 83 minute film.
Newcomer, Dane DaHaan, appears as Andrew Detmer, a somewhat dorky and reclusive teen who has a terminally ill Mom and an abusive Dad. As we meet him, he’s taken to recording the events around him with a video camera. His cousin, Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) works to get Andrew to loosen up and be part of the good times of their senior year. Also thrown into this mix is Steve …
Rating of
3/4
Live Action Akira?
Ian - wrote on 09/25/2015
For those who have been dying to see the upcoming live action Akira, well, you already missed it, Chronicle was that movie. Although the "found-footage" style can be annoying at times and creates some plot problems..(why is the guy still holding the camera when all this craziness is happening???) the film is pretty good. In your classic vein such as E.T. etc.. a group of youths find an abandoned space artifact and are imbued with telekinetic powers. Several of the kids decide to use their powers for good or just to have harmless fun, but one of the group holds a grudge against classmates due to bullying issues and decides to take revenge. The whole thing spirals out of control and turns into a showdown with the government and police. The story is very reminiscent of movies like "Push", …
Rating of
4/4
Was happily surprised
Lee - wrote on 08/07/2012
When i saw the original trailer for this film i thought the concept looked cool enough. You have three highschool kids who accidentally stumble upon a meteroite of some form. Cool as that is it gets much cooler as they all discover they now possess super powers mostly of the telekinetic variety. So i threw my money down and purchased the dvd upon its release and damn!!!! What i did not expect to get in return was one hell of a movie! Definatly without a shadow of a doubt one of the best movies i have seen in 2012 so far! Loved the storyline, loved the relative cast of unknowns, also loved as its filmed 'Blair Witch' style without the vomit inducing shakiness which after reading alot of reviews for this film seems to be a problem...I think it added the reality to it!!
Upon it's …
Rating of
3/4
knocked my socks off
sreekirch - wrote on 07/01/2012
There are two kind of movies. One that will totally entertain with a stale plot and another with a strong plot and deep writing. Chronicle will settle for the second choice. It is nicely poised with a technical script and has some gritty characters to care. Trank's chronicle is neatly merged with lots of video footages and powerful performances.
The plot is about three youngsters who come in contact with radiation. They get supernatural powers and start using them with rules. Dane De haan(Andrew) does not play with rules and things go beyond control and it costs life of his best friend Jordan (Steve). His cousin max warns him but eveything goes berserk.
Landis's writing is good. The elements and playful nature of youth is nicely shown. The main plot lacked clarity and should have …
Rating of
2/4
Enjoyable, but do not expect much
Zeljka - wrote on 06/17/2012
The premise was promising, but execution wasn't that good. What would teenagers do with superpowers they suddenly acquired? According to the director of this film, nothing really -- they were mostly obnoxious to the others, constantly doing pranks, giggling and talking nonsense, but I guess, that would be pretty accurate description of today's average teenagers. If you remove the supernatural part of the movie plot, you actually get standard teen drama, covering issues like bullying, domestic abuse and poverty reflecting on an ability to solve your own family health and other problems. That sounds like cliche, well, it is, but might even worked here had they really applied the supernatural elements of the story in a good way. But we haven't seen that - the characters treated their newly …
Rating of
2/4
Chronicle review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 04/23/2012
Realistic battle sequences and effects cannot overshadow the plot/direction and acting. Another documentary style film which was probably influenced again by the horrendous Blairwitch Project. Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) is a shy depressed kid who videotaped his life. Matt (Alex Russell) makes an effort to improve Andrew’s social life by bringing him in a rave party. He meets Steve (Michael B. Jordan) and brings him to an unknown object. All three acquired powers and they explore on it. Soundtrack and acting was descent and screenplay tried to be sensitive. Some pranks were crude mixed with humor. You have themes of bad fatherhood, sacrificing to aid a sick mother, friendship, abuse of power and the like. It felt somewhat cartoonish and overdone formula. Chronicle still had a …
Rating of
3.5/4
Review: Chronicle
MikePA - wrote on 04/13/2012
I loved Chronicle!! From a film-making perspective I thought it was very well-made, but the entertainment level is extremely high. The characters are fully fleshed out, the script is beautifully written by Max Landis, and it includes excellent breakthrough performances from the 3 main actors and the writer and director as well. The found-footage thing isn't used as a gimmick here, and the action and visual effects fit in with this type of camera work perfectly. The director actually did something very interesting: he had the main character, Andrew, use his telekinesis to hold the camera up and follow him around, that way we don't get a bunch of shaky cinematography. The action and flying shots are steady and smooth, as they should be.
The acting is terrific. Alex Russel, Dane …
Rating of
2/4
Not Quite Super, Man
Chris Kavan - wrote on 02/06/2012
I appreciate the effort, I really do - the found footage genre has been stuck in the horror rut for awhile now. Paranormal Activity (Good), Apollo 18 (Bad) and going back to The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield - you can put a sci-fi twist or ghostly twist, but it all comes down to horror.
Chronicle takes things in a different direction. When we begin, we're following essentially an outcast teen - his only "friend" appears to be his cousin, who simply seems to put up with him rather than treat him as an actual friend. His dad is an out-of-work fireman-turned alcoholic; his mother is very sick. But instead of grabbing a gun and shooting up his school like a typically bent-out-of-shape teen would, instead he grabs an old camera and just decides to document his daily life. People …
