What happens when you combine Cloverfield and Heroes? You'll get Chronicle, a jaw-dropping, exhilarating science-fiction and superhero film shot in found-footage style similar to Cloverfield.
Chronicle is about three teenagers who gained superhuman powers from their discovery. As days passes, their abilities develop and they slowly descend to the darkest place that not one of them has ever reached before.
The movie is a good, refreshing take on the superhero story, sci-fi, and found-footage films. It has a lot of surprises up its sleeve for the viewers. With the seemingly typical exposition in the beginning, it made me think that this will be a typical or not-so special movie. Characters are three male high school students. One of them is a shy and bullied loner named Andrew (Dane DeHaan). The other is his cousin, Matt (Alex Russell) who acts more like a family to Andrew than Andrew's father. The last one is the smart and athletic student named Steve (Michael B. Jordan, not the basketball player!) who recently made friends with the unpopular Andrew. It's almost like a formula for high school stories with laughs for the first act but as the film goes down to the third act, the tone gets more and more serious and dark.
One of the things I love in Chronicle is its characters especially Andrew. I actually felt sympathetic to him and even if he wreaks havoc in the streets of Seattle, I smile a little because he's finally rising to the occasion of being strong and defying the things that hinder him to get out of his shell. I find him a reflection of myself before and in the climax of the movie, he is some sort of my frustrated dream personified. Dane DeHaan gave Andrew some justice. He made the character equally sympathetic and also dark. The characters are written and acted so well that they are almost like real-life humans in the other side of the planet.
The visual effects here are also top-notched. Made with a budget of $ 15 million, the effects here made the film look like a blockbuster especially in the final act which is one of the most chaotic and thrilling sequences I've seen for 2012.
I also love its cinematography that it made me feel like I am actually experiencing the whole movie. I got absorbed in the flying sequence with clouds passing through the camera as the heroes spin around gleefully. Another awesome take for the found-footage style is its different points of view. The first is the view presented by Andrew's camera as he decided to film his life even before the discovery. Second is Casey's (Ashley Hinshaw) camera's point of view. She's a video blogger and a love interest for Matt by the way. In the third act, the film is presented by different cameras like the helicopter camera, police car cameras, CCTVs, and even the bystanders' cameras. This take defies the found-footage style of having only a single point of view.
And last is the story and script. Like I said, the concept is one unique and refreshing take on the superhero movies. It's smart and fast-paced yet it has human drama, comedy, and action. It's one of those entertaining film that I won't forget and I'm thinking of including it to my all-time favorite films list.
