Chronicle (2012)

What real teenage boys would do with superpowers!

With the plethora of superhero movies that have been released in recent years, it is nice to see a movie that tries to realistically portray what a teenage boy would do if granted superhuman abilities. No fighting evil geniuses in amazing lairs or uniting with other superheroes to save the world from annihilation, no, in Chronicle these guys use their powers to have a laugh.

After discovering an underground tunnel which leads to a supernatural rock, three teenage boys are inflicted with powers beyond that of normal humans. At first, they can simply move little things with their minds (like slamming tennis balls into each other’s faces), but soon they train these powers to become stronger, and with that comes a growing peril.

The lead character is Andrew (Dane DeHaan), who is a shy introvert with an abusive father and a sick mother. Spending most of his time behind a camera, Andrew also becomes our main insight in the lives of these three boys, offering up a realistic viewpoint to see it from (all cameras are accounted for in the film). Whilst Andrew develops the strongest powers, he also becomes the most unstable, combining his repressed anger and frustration with his new abilities.

Andrew’s cousin Matt (Alex Russell) is a struggling student trying to win back the attentions of an ex, whilst Steve (Michael B. Jordan - awesome name by the way) is a popular high school kid who becomes Andrew’s door into the popular crowd. These two become Andrew’s best hope for salvation, but also the mostly victims of his growing instability.

A brilliant movie, Chronicle offers a very contemporary example of the hero movie, whilst avoiding most of the typical clichés. The stunts are fantastic and some of comedy set pieces are genius (such as the boys pulling the chewing gum from a guy’s head which sends him flying across a shop). Our three leads are likable and relatable, whilst the growing enemy is not some witty jackass in a bug suit, but their own likely demise at the hands of their growing responsibility.