While some found-footage films, like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, became hits, the genre has also seen plenty of misfires, such as Apollo 18. Chronicle joins the second list.
The movie revolves around Andrew (Dane DeHaan), a high-school student who inexplicably decides to start filming his every waking moment. He is a social outcast who has few friends, a deadbeat dad and a bedridden mother. His only respite is his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) who tries to get him to open up more and break out of his rut. Matt’s persuasion gets Andrew to a local party, where they are quickly befriended by the school’s most popular student, Steve (Michael B. Jordan). Things get interesting when the three of them find a mysterious hole in the ground in the woods near the party. It contains a glowing crystal-like object, which just happens to grant them telekinetic abilities. The movie then explores how their new powers make their lives exponentially more complicated as their abilities grow.
Fortunately, Chronicle never tries to explain the cause or the essence of the powers, leaving it all up to your imagination. But you will find yourself thinking what a jackass the main character is instead of pitying him. And the visuals aren’t particularly stunning either. Some aspects of the found-footage techniques were enjoyable, though, like the use of multiple perspectives in the same scene. Of course, the whole found-footage angle is a double-edged sword, and many parts of the film feel like they could have been much better if they had dropped the whole handheld camera idea.
Chronicle just isn’t a smart film. It takes itself too seriously when it isn’t particularly groundbreaking at all.