Geek Syndicate
FILM REVIEW - Chronicle
The story surrounds three college students, Steve, Matt and his cousin Andy. Andy is a bit of a geek / outsider, not fitting into mainstream college life and the focus of bullying by the jocks. On top of this, he is burdened by the weight of his mother’s terminal illness, something which he is blamed for by his alcoholic father. He is also source of the bulk of the camcorder chronology (think Wes Bentley from American Beauty). Matt is a ‘regular’ guy, and Steve is the antipathy of Andy: sporty, popular, gregarious and ambitious. It is true to say were it not for the event portrayed in the film, Andy and Steve would never even acknowledge each other’s existence. One night these three through happenstance find themselves in the local woods. Guided by an unfamiliar sound, they discover a hole in the ground. Climbing into the hole they encounter an “entity” and it is this encounter that unknowingly bestows them with superpowers. Quite simply they wake up the next morning to find they are all telekinetic. This takes us to the middle of the film as each day, their powers become stronger and they learn to control them better. Initially they keep it low level – playing pranks on each other, and then unsuspecting individuals – for example, moving parked cars around the car-park to confuse drivers. The scene in the supermarket (often using CCTV footage) is hilarious as they make trolleys move off by themselves, or Teddy bears chase children around the store. We also discover that intensive use of their powers by one or all of them cause all three of them to experience nose-bleeds. Very cleverly sown into the storyline is the conceit that Andy uses his telekinesis to move the camcorder around, pretty much 24-7; this giving the filmmakers the ability to legitimately view from any height, angle or distance – a hindrance of all previous films in this style which are limited to what an average person can capture with a handheld camera. This also means that
Writers: Max Landis & Josh Trank Directors: Josh Trank Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell & Michael B. Jordan
The Blurb:
Three high school friends gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery. Soon, though, they find their lives spinning out of control and their bond tested as they embrace their darker sides.
The Review:
Spoilers Ahead Okay, so if you’ve seen the trailer, Chronicle delivers exactly what it promised: “Heroes with HandyCams”! The style of the film is very much in the same vein as Blair Witch, Cloverfield etc and the story is partially derived from the television series Heroes (with relation to characters like Claire & Hiro): “what would you do if you woke up and discovered you had superpowers?”
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