Chronicle Review

Chronicle chronicles the story of 3 unlikely high school friends, brought together by their common telekinetic abilities. Viewed through the lens of one of their camcorder, the majority of the film features the found footage style of cinematography.

The storyline is vague in spots, i.e. how the three acquire their powers: (spoiler...I guess) go into an underground tunnel, find a glowing...something, blackout, and there you have it. Otherwise it is nicely detailed, not under nor overdone, kind of just right, especially considering it lasts only about 84 minutes.

Starring are three young actors, Dane Dehaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan, who are without enough of a history to say, "I'm seeing Chronicle because Dane Dehaan is playing in it," but enough experience that each carries their roles respectively. Taking advantage of the young cast, there are a lot of lighthearted immature moments that lead to a few laughs.

I have heard a few complaints concerning the found footage format Chronicle was shot in, but in a way, I actually think it helped the low budget movie (I have heard $15 million) not look so low budget. From one of the earliest moments where the high schoolers manipulate their newfound powers to connect legos, to  a later point where the least popular of the three gains his 15 minutes of fame at a talent show,  the special effects are not that of Star Wars or Transformers. Later on in the movie, however, watchers will be amazed at what has been accomplished on such a small budget, when the storyline begins to expand on what they can do with their powers. It is quite the ambitious small film.

I am not a big fan of buying many DVDs nowadays, I kind of like I watch a movie in theaters once and let there be some years before I seer it again. However, Chronicle will be a Blu-ray I will have in my small collection.
—ThomasGrand