Chronicle (2012) Review

"Chronicle" movie poster

I had an itching to watch a movie ever since I got new glasses after losing my old pair, and luckily, this week, there was a movie that I had the opportunity to see. To quote Wikipedia*, "Chronicle is a 2012 science fiction film directed by Josh Trank and  written by Max Landis based  on a story by both Trank and Landis. It stars Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, and Alex Russell as a group of Seattle friends who gain powerful superhuman abilities and use them for mischief and personal gain until one of them begins to use his powers for darker purposes." SPOILERS BELOW!

Alex Russell as Matt Garretty, Michael B. Jordan as Steve Montgomery and Dane DeHaan as Andrew Detmer in ``Chronicle.''

Let me first talk about the pros of the movie. First of all, the story line is great. The increase of Andrew's (Dehaan) spiral out of control is expertly show starting with the driver hospitalization incident and then escalating to killing Steve and multiple others. It is ingenious the way the camera style lets us see into Andrew's background, as well as letting us predict his demise and have sympathy as well as pity for him at the same time. The movie is also contains smart and fresh editing. The switch between his camera and security cameras are cool if not genius, and the scene by scene cutoffs gives you what you need to know, in a concise manner. These cool effects alone make this movie a winner, as well as the mind blowing special effects of the bomb and the spear. The ending is no exception either; it's interesting, very resolving, but it also has a little of that mysterious quality that leaves us wanting more.

 Dane Dehaan as Andrew Detmer abusing his telekinetic powers in "Chronicle".

Now, for the cons. The camera movements in the beginning made me dizzy. Also, maybe it's just me, but certain explainable things are a little mind boggling. For example, sometimes there are unexplained cameras. Like, why can we as the audience see what is going on when there is no cameras around the characters. If you are going to stick with this specific camera style, the be consistent. I don't want to miss half the movie looking for a camera that isn't there.

Dane DeHaan as Andrew Detmer crushing a car with his telekinetic powers in "Chronicle".

Here's a little side note that I can't make sense of. Is it a good or bad thing, I don't know, but here it is. In the main intense scene, the camera switches from an unidentified camera to a police car camera to remind audience of the camera style.

Alex Russell as Matt Garretty stopping the police in "Chronicle''.

And, that's basically it. As you can see, there are more pros then cons and that is why I can confidently recommend that you watch this movie. That certainly explains the 85% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and my personal rating of A-.


It's 7 hours 'till bedtime; I say watch, don't wait.


*Links to actor's Wikipedia pages redirected to IMDB.