Chronicle: The Lost Footage Edition (2012) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline: What are you capable of?

Clear your thoughts for a "mesmerizing mind-bender" (Rolling Stone) that'll blow you away! Seen through the lens of a troubled teen's video camera, yet filled with eye-popping action and jaw-dropping special effects, Chronicle is as real as it gets. When three ordinary high school friends make an extraordinary discovery, they acquire amazing abilities beyond their understanding. But as their powers develop, so do their darker sides. Fun, harmless pranks soon lead to much riskier activities as the boys' "gifts" - and their lives - spin dangerously out of control!

User Comment: Richard Reilly (FFman@comcast.net) from Colorado, 4 February 2012 • Enjoy trolling? Enjoy watching people get trolled? Here's your movie. Chronicle stumbled into theaters thoroughly undervalued. Although it does have its flaws, it has paved an entirely new route in the worn-out genre of superheroes. Chronicle brings all the major superhero questions into play—Where did our powers come from? How should we use our powers? In the end, however, those questions are irrelevant. This movie is not about three superheroes. It is about three teenage boys who just happen to have super powers.

This movie is quite extraordinary. All three of the main actors are unknowns. When the movie begins, they all promise to me stereotyped high schoolers—the popular one, the outcast, and the stoner. As the movie progresses, those stereotypes become worthless. These actors were up to the challenge. Each main character changes so much that you won't recognize them from beginning to end. Mix this with the unique storyline and this movie has an extremely strong core.

A good deal of this movie is enjoyable simple because it is realistic to life. The bullying is brutal. The type of things that the main characters do with their powers is exactly what I would do. That's the shining point of this movie. It is true to life. It doesn't cover up life or try to smooth it over with simplifications. This movie is beautiful with its honesty. It allows the viewer to laugh hysterically one moment and cringe the next.

The problems are minor but still present. The incredible climax is followed up with a lackluster conclusion. The father's character is rather over-the-top. I can't tell if it was the writing or the acting that made it so. These two facts won't pull you away from enjoying the movie. It's just too bad that such a good movie would end on such a low note.

This movie is worth seeing. Some people will have trouble watching it in theaters because it is a shot from the first person and can be jerky at times. If you are okay with that, I would recommend seeing it in the theatre. I saw this movie with a large audience—which appeared to add to the experience. For the average Joe, this will be an enjoyable movie. For the superhero fan, this could be a cult classic.

Summary: Great New Twist on Superhero Movies.

User Comment: Colyn1006 from United States, 5 February 2012 • Chronicle is a "found footage" film that is similar to Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project, and - the infamous - Paranormal Activity series. Those kinds of films (mainly Paranormal Activity) have a tendency of being awful, predictable, and nothing but a cheap money grab; Chronicle ,thankfully, is different.

Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a high-school teenager who has decided to make videos of his life. Through these videos, we find out Andrew is a total outcast and doesn't have an easy life. Andrew's father is an abusive drunk, his mother is dieing of cancer, and his cousin, Matt (Alex Russell), barely tolerates him. One day, While Matt is driving Andrew back from school, Matt urges Andrew to go to a party with him. Matt then pleas Andrew not to bring his camera; Andrew doesn't listen. After being punched in the face by a drunk raver, "the footage" then cuts to Andrew sitting outside the party crying. Steve (Michael B. Jordan) walks up to Andrew and tells him that he and Matt have found something they want him to film. What they find is a huge hole. As Andrew is filming the hole, an odd sound is being produced from the inside. Steve, Matt, and Andrew both climb into down hole to see what is. What they find is ______[the SciFi part]_________. Some time later, Andrew, Matt, and Steve are then shown that they've developed telekinetic powers (that's when the fun begins). Instead of using their powers to fight crime, the three - now friends - use their powers to play practical jokes on people. As their powers get better, so do the camera angles. Andrew is eventually able to levitate the camera anywhere imaginable as he's doing anything. It's pretty cool.

What amazes me about Chronicle is how well everything has been written. The writing is very well thought out and so are the three main characters. It's rare that you see this in any film. It's even rarer when you see this in a "found footage" film. I'd advise any writer that plans on writing anything about high-school teenagers to watch this film; These are how real high- schoolers act. They're not too immature, they're not too mature. They're teenagers. simple. That's one of the reasons why I love these characters, I can relate to them. Regardless of who you are, you can relate to at least one of the three main characters. As for the other two, you probably know/knew someone who had similar personality traits. It doesn't hurt either when the three form a strong friendship with one another. The first hour or so is a great bromance film

The effects are pretty good, for the most part, considering Chronicle is a low-budget thriller. Most of the effects are practical with uses of some green screen technology. The stunt that looked a little odd to me was the flying, but you get used to it after a while and accept it for what it is. Even though some of the effects looked a little awkward, I have no choice but to respect it, for the fact Chronicle didn't rely solely on CGI.

Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan give great, convincing performances. These characters feel real, so you have to give credit to the three main actors for making them come to life.

In case you can't already tell, I really enjoyed Chronicle, and I think anyone that likes superhero movies will too. Chronicle is the definition of a great "found footage" film. Chronicle is a fun, thrilling movie with simple, yet great dialogue that comes with a great story. Chronicle does a brilliant job at making you feel like you're part of the movie (I really felt like I was the fourth member of the crew), and that means something.

I give Chronicle a very enthusiastic 4 out of 5.

User Comment: *** This review may contain spoilers *** dylanhook from United States, 13 February 2012 • I honestly don't understand how this movie can have so many good reviews. I've never reviewed a movie before, but I absolutely need to write about this.

The shakiness of the camera was almost unbearable; I had a raging headache after the first 10 minutes. I understand this is a "handheld camera" style movie, but so is Cloverfield, and I didn't have a problem with that at all. The movie looks like crap too, up until the end. This was obviously done on purpose, trying to create the "home-movie" type feel that I personally hate in films. The visuals did improve during the last 15 minutes which was when all of the action took place, but the shaky camera and weird cut scenes kinda ruined that for me.

The movie has no plot...at all. We kinda just have a few events thrown at us, and we aren't given any explanation as to why or how these things occurred. Basically, the three kids walk down a hole, find a glowing rock, and suddenly have telekinetic powers. No explanation, no other reference to the rock aside from the time they go back to see the hole has sunk in. They then learn to harness their power, and for one of the kids, he becomes mad with power. That's about it. The ending is somewhat confusing, and seems to be left open for a sequel.

I also don't get the reason why the kid carries around a camera the whole time. This wouldn't be so bad if the who carrying a camera thing wasn't so over-emphasized throughout the beginning. Everybody he came in contact with in the first 10 minutes of the film referenced the fact that he was carrying a camera and asked him why, and he kept saying "don't worry about it, just gotta film things now, trust me on this, etc." no real explanation as to why later in the film.

The only redeeming qualities in this film is the semi-cool action sequence at the end and character Steve who was pretty funny.

I'd say skip this one, especially if you're prone to getting headaches, or hate movies with minimal plot depth, character development and/or storyline.

Summary: I was expecting to come home to a ton of negative reviews..

Summary: "Found footage" films have the tendency of being awful, predictable, and nothing but a cheap money grab; Chronicle, thankfully, is different.

[CSW] -2.3- So was this about how absolute power corrupts absolutely? Or was it that the adolescent brain is not yet fully developed? Or was it that the outsider can be emotionally unstable? Or was it any or all of the above? It really doesn't matter because the story had the capacity to be so much more than what it was. This may be the way the real high school students act but since we all went to high school we already know that. What we don't need to see is adolescent antics and one person slow descent into madness. We needed to see something extraordinary instead of ordinary, no matter how well acted. The "found footage" films sub-genre may have exhausted its possibilities, besides being annoying and nearly unwatchable. This film makes you feel that the "found footage" films sub-genre need to be put out of its misery. With a mom who's dying of cancer and an out-of-work, abusively alcoholic dad, Seattle high school loner Andrew Detmer begins documenting his life with a cheap camcorder, effectively putting a filter between himself and the real world. And that filter doesn't help him get any better either. Even getting the power of super telekinesis doesn't help him grow into the real world but only further alienates him. With a little bit borrowed from Blair Witch and a lot a lot from Carrie this film offers nothing really new. For me this film was barely worth the rental.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 7.6/10 - PG-13 muting.

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