Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan

Directed by: Josh Tranx

Today, I decided to hit the mall to check out a movie and do some shopping around. I didn’t get much for shopping today. Just a couple of movies on DVD (my own copy of “The Help” and “Contagion”), a few music CD’s (the new Van Halen album and Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits), and a couple more Walking Dead books (3 & 4, I’m planning to collect them all).

When I was at the movies, I was having a hard time trying to find which movie I wanted to see. I almost wanted to see “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 3D”, but then I thought, nah, why see it again when I already have it on DVD, and thinking the 3D won’t make the movie any better, so I said no to “Star Wars”. I also came this close to seeing the new Denzel Washington movie, “Safe House”, but then I ended up looking at the movie, “Chronicle”. The plot to “Chronicle” caught my attention so I ended up seeing this movie today.

Here’s my review.

Plot/synopsis: Three high school best friends: Andrew, Matt, and Steve go to a rave party so Andrew can meet more people. The three teenagers discover a mysterious crystalline object underground through a hole. The strange large object gave them special powers where they can move objects and fly. Andrew video tapes everything to make a documentary of things going on.

This film is another one of those low budget, “found footage” movies. Similar to the “Blair Witch Project”, “Paranormal Activity”, and many others. Most found footage movies are horror films, and finally, we get a found footage movie, that is not horror. This is a superhero movie. It is also an action movie. This movie, “Chronicle” is a completely original story. I don’t think it was adapted from any comic books, not that I know of (correct me if I’m wrong).

This is actually a pretty realistic movie. The writing was good and it made you actually believe that people could do those things. Wish I could!!! The acting was played well by the cast, as the film was full of unknown actors. No big names at all. Who ever did the writing for this movie, certainly knows their shit with the comics and is certainly a comic book geek for sure. This film will make you feel like you’re reading a comic.

There was a lot of intense action. Wow, the action scenes were a blast to watch. The effects and cinematography were pretty cool. The film was made old-school. Kind of like how they made superhero flicks in the 80’s. They didn’t over do the CGI, they used very little, I assume.

Anyway, in this film, while there are no actual superhero’s yet, this is just an introduction of what’s going to happen in the sequel. A villain is introduced in this film but I’m not going to tell you who it is to avoid spoilers. I’m sure the sequel, will have a hero with a costume and all.

I was not bored at all with this film. I enjoyed it all the way through. It was a very short movie. It had mixed emotions. It can get pretty comical as I had a few laughs at a few scenes. Some of the movie can get dark and some can get sad. This is a new “origin” superhero movie that is different than anything else.

I know people are getting tired of superhero films. You don’t even have to be a fan of superheros or comics to watch this film. I was very impressed with the film, and I’m already looking forward to the sequel. While this movie really didn’t do well in the box office (when it should have been a hit), you should really check this movie out.

Score for “Chronicle” = **** (4 stars as in “excellent”)

Kev