Review: Chronicle

Chronicle is a dark meditation on the folly of giving power to the weak, presented as a sci fi/action/found footage film.

There has been a glut of found footage genre films lately, following the ever-increasing availability of personal video recording devices and the ubiquitous presence of surveillance cameras. Found footage films began in 1980, with the mercifully forgotten, “Cannibal Holocaust,” and averaged one or two a year, until 2008 and 2009, (seven and six respectively,) then jumped to 17 in 2010 and 2011, following the startling success of the indy film, “The Blair Witch Project” in 2009.

This year has already seen 10 released as of February.

Found footage is most commonly used for horror films, with the premise that a video record was made of unspeakably horrible things by dead people, who tell the story from beyond the grave through the video left behind.

“Chronicle” follows high school uber-geek Andrew (Dane DeHaan) who hides from the world by putting a videocam between his face and it. He and his friends Matt (Alex Russell,) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan,) find a hole in the ground with a glowing otherworldly object in it. Shortly after contact with it, they all begin to develop the power to move objects with their minds, and eventually learn to fly. As the film progresses, their power grows and each character has to deal with the effect of unaccountable power on their personality.

Matt grows into a sense of responsibility for the power he’s been given, as does Steve.

But Steve should have remembered what Orlando Jones shouted in “Evolution” (2001,) “Uh oh, this is where the black guy gets killed!”

That’s one formulaic cliche in an otherwise good movie, that goes back to George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” (1968.)

Andrew initially evokes our sympathy, but as the film advances starts to create a sense of dread. As if “Revenge of the Nerds” was remade as a horror flick. He starts by using the power to become popular, performing a magic act in the school talent contest. The twist is, he pretends it’s skill when it’s really something like magic.

Then he and his friends use the power for pranks on shoppers, after which Matt and Steve come up short and realize they’ve gone too far.

A point comes when Andrew uses the power to defend himself against his abusive father (Michael Kelly,) and goes a little beyond pure self-defense. Then he uses the power aggressively against thoroughly unsympathetic people you rather enjoy seeing get their comeuppance. Then against an innocent convenience store clerk, when robbing the store for money to buy medicine for his dying mother. At each step there is an element of sympathy for his motive, or his excuse.

With each step he grows more unrestrained, finally deciding that he is an “apex predator,” and there are no rules that apply to him.

“Is it wrong for a lion to kill zebras?” he asks the camera as he crushes a car like an aluminum beer can with a gesture of his hand.

This is, among all the special effects, a thoughtful movie. There is also plenty of action, with cars and buses thrown around like a child throwing toys in a tantrum. Which is exactly the point.

The found footage technique may have been done here better than ever before. The three main protagonists can be in the same frame together because Andrew can float the videocam above them. Scenes captured by surveillance cameras start with the grainy picture quality we all know, then seamlessly segue into a more watchable format once the scene has been set.

Character development in real and convincing. Matt develops into a better and more responsible person, Andrew gives in to the basest emotions within himself, without either seeming one-dimensional.

Unfortunately you can’t say the same about Steve, who nonetheless competently fills his stereotypical role as the Noble Black Man Who Gets Killed.

But the flaws are really minimal, its virtues many. You have to be in a certain mood to enjoy this movie, but it’s worth the trip to the dark side.