Chronicle (2012) - Film directed by Josh Trank

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An amazing and interesting film which depicts a more realistic story of teenagers acquiring super powers. In a time when films are becoming uncreative and repetitive it is refreshing to see one that obviously had a lot of rational thought put into it because many of the events that occur seem vastly more plausible and like what would actually happen.

The acting in this, particularly from Dane DeHaan, is pretty good despite the fact they are playing fairly standard characters. The characters develop throughout and you can see how the power they have attained changes them. You can also see them just having fun with their powers, which other films have done such as Spiderman, but the fact that it is three guys hanging out while suspended in the clouds makes this extraordinary situation appear normal.

This balance of the ordinary and the extraordinary is what Trank manages so well. He takes people you might know and gives them powers you could only dream of. During some of the film I did not know where the plot was going and the film almost seemed happy with the odd hiccup here and there, however the film took a sudden darker turn. Chronicle has a fairly pessimistic take on humans attaining superpowers but both the good and the bad that happens seems plausible and neither detracts from the reality of the film.

The only slightly annoying point is that the character who is affected the most by the powers is the stereotypical outcast. This is a necessary plot point because it means he is set up to break but it is also an over-worked angle. The idea that the abused or lonely are on a razor edge from crazy is somewhat insulting and these people can be the strongest mentally.

Overall a great film just with a slightly irksome character for me personally because I normally identify with the shyer characters and they always seem to end up in the worst situations.However the overused characters do not outweigh the creativity of the film and the huge amount of effort put into the story.