I’m not a fan of found footage style movies. Because they don’t make sense. If something is happening, unless you are a journalist, you will choose not to continue filming. Because filming is detrimental to you existing. If you are looking through a lens, Godzilla is gonna eat you. Well, step on you. 

Chronicle is a found footage movie. Strike one.

But they set it up from scratch with the idea that Andrew bought the camera and is planning to film everything because his dad is an alcoholic. And gets violent with him. Ok….I’m still on the fence, but sitting comfortably there now.

He decides to take the camera with him everywhere, including school. Where he is hazed and bullied. Bad idea Andrew. 

His cousin Matt talks him into going to a party, where he brings the camera. Awkwardly. But then Steve shows up and says Matt is wanting him to come film something they found. And it gets a bit silly here, because they talk about how wild this thing is. But it’s a hole. Just a hole. A hole Steve jumps down into. And then Matt follows. Andrew goes in as well, because Matt is his ride home. They find something in the hole. A glowing crystal rock formation.

We jump a bit forward to find them throwing baseballs at each other because they have discovered they can telekinetically control it. Andrew is a little better at it, but they all can do it.

Stepping out for a minute. So this random rock appears to have given them some sort of super hero powers. Interesting. Andrew continues filming because he is now chronicling as they learn their abilities. So the found footage makes sense here. They found a way to do it. Bravo! But there are moments where the storytelling breaks the meta fourth wall of found footage. Someone else with a camera has moments where they are filming, and for some reason it is cut into the movie. That’s a bit odd to me. And then much later, there are parts where the idea of the found footage is abandoned in order to just have the movie play out. This is a half strike, because stick with your rules. But the first strike has been negated, because they made it make sense. 

But where this gets interesting is in the way the 3 newly powered high schoolers choose to discover and implement what they can do. Pranking people in WalMart. And parking lots. And then flying! Because once you find that, how do you ever do anything else?

Andrew though is having a bit of trouble. Not just at home, but with the morality of power. He didn’t have an Uncle Ben to guide him with the “With great power comes great responsibility” schtick. 

And what this turns into is a personal diary introspection of a kid turning into a super villain. 

Which was chilling to watch. But also pretty amazing to see play out.

I watched the Director’s Cut edition, but it is literally 6 minutes longer than the theatrical, so not likely much difference. 

Without hesitation, I can say this is well worth checking out. I’ve been on a hot streak with quality things I’m reviewing lately. This doesn’t rank into Gold territory, and I’m actually going to stop at a 9. Damn good. My only real gripe with the story is that I think it would have been not only possible to, but better to have, given it an open ended conclusion. Leave room for a second one.