Chronicle (film)

Chronicle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Josh Trank
Screenplay by	Max Landis
Story by	Max Landis Josh Trank
Produced by	John Davis Adam Schroeder
Starring	Dane DeHaan Michael B. Jordan Michael Kelly Alex Russell
Cinematography	Matthew Jensen
Edited by	Elliot Greenberg
Production company	Davis Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	February 1, 2012 (2012-02-01) (United Kingdom) February 3, 2012 (2012-02-03) (United States)
Running time	83 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$8,650,000 (est.)

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 friends who gain powerful superhuman abilities and use them for mischief and personal gain until one of them begins to use their powers for darker purposes. The film was released on February 1, 2012 in the United Kingdom and Ireland and was released in the United States and India on February 3, 2012. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a high school teenager who starts to videotape his life on a camera he recently purchased. At home, he's bullied by an abusive and alcoholic father, who is bitter about a firefighting injury that forced him to retire and the fact that Andrew's mother is dying from cancer. At school, he's bullied by fellow classmates. His only friend is his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) who reads various philosophers as a hobby, gives Andrew a ride to school each morning, and tries to draw Andrew out.

One night, Matt persuades Andrew to attend a local rave located in a converted farm barn. Matt unsuccessfully attempts to chat up with Casey (Ashley Hinshaw), a fellow student, who is filming the rave for her blog. Meanwhile, Andrew is punched by a raver who was angry at the thought that Andrew was filming his girlfriend.

Outside, an upset Andrew is approached by his soon-to-be friend, Steve (Michael B. Jordan), who tells him that he and Matt have found something strange and they want him to come film it. They have found a mysterious hole in the ground which emits a loud and strange sound. The three of them proceed into the hole where they find a large, glowing object which interferes with the camera. They touch it, and it begins reacting--and causes their noses to begin bleeding heavily. The object then turns red and the camera blacks out.

Several weeks later, Andrew, Matt, and Steve have developed telekinetic powers from their experience in the hole and demonstrate the ability to move, throw, and stop objects with their mind. They then decide to visit the hole once again but discover that it has sunk in and the area has been sealed off by the Sheriffʻs department. They then use their powers to play practical jokes on people, including moving a woman's car to a different space, which causes Steve's nose to bleed. It then becomes apparent that overuse of their powers causes nose bleeds and neural trauma--in the form of headaches. Matt theorizes that their powers function like a muscle, becoming stronger each time they use them, but it seems that Andrew's abilities are accelerating at a faster rate than both Matt and Steve, showing far more aptitude for both fine control and raw power, though Steve comes up with a few innovations adopted by the other two.

While driving during a thunderstorm an impatient motorist continues to honk at the three guys, which prompts Andrew to force the car over a barrier and into a nearby river, with ambiguous intentions. Steve and Matt rescue the driver while Andrew does nothing but record the proceedings, and call 911. Angry and afraid that Andrew put a person in the hospital, Matt insists that they set rules regarding their new found powers, including not using their powers to hurt people or using them in public.

A while later, Steve discovers that they can use their powers to make themselves fly and during one excursion are almost hit by a jumbo jet. Steve spirals out of control but Andrew catches him before he can hit the ground. At Steveʻs request (and as way to make himself more popular at school) Andrew enters the school talent show and proceeds to amaze his fellow students using his powers in the guise of magic. Andrew, Matt and Steve celebrate Andrew's new found popularity at a local house party. Andrew and a female classmate go upstairs to a bedroom, hopeful of losing his virginity. Instead Andrew, drinking alcohol for the first time and unused to it, vomits on the girl. Steve walks in and tries to comfort Andrew, but Andrew, infuriated, tells him to leave. The next day returning to school, Andrew's newfound popularity is all but gone. One of the usual bullies taunts Andrew about the incident with the girl, and Andrew follows him for a moment--then he then calls out the bully's name, the boy turns around and Andrew yanks a few teeth out of his mouth. Later Andrew is in a bathroom stall with a small collection of teeth from bullies, and he's calmly explaining how he got one tooth out whole, as opposed to breaking others halfway down. Andrew's new instability begins to show more and more. Later that night, Matt confronts Andrew about what happened to the bully earlier. After a heated argument Matt tries to punch Andrew, but Andrew stops the punch with his powers. Matt flies out of the window in a rage.

Andrew becomes increasingly hostile and bitter due to his school and home life and starts to hang out on his own. During one confrontation with his father in their basement, Andrew pins his father to a wall, using his powers to best his father but making it appear he was doing it with his hands. He flings his father across the floor and storms out. During a lightning storm, a concerned Steve finds an upset Andrew in the sky--and reveals that he could tell where Andrew was, and that Andrew's own power usage is giving Steve a headache and nosebleed. Steve tries to calm Andrew and get him to come back to the ground, worried about his safety; but Andrew will hear none of it and continues to tell Steve to go away. As Andrew's temper increases Steve is suddenly struck by lighting, and is killed instantly. At the funeral, Matt shows concern about the mysterious circumstances regarding Steve's death and over Andrew's reclusive nature, and Andrew cries at Steve's grave, apologizing to him for losing control. It doesn't last long, though, as Andrew begins to believe himself the next stage of human evolution as different, as he implies, from humanity as a human is to a housefly.

At home, Andrew's mother is deteriorating and his father berates Andrew for having an expensive camera whilst he struggles to pay for his mother's medication. In an attempt to come up with money for medication, Andrew uses his powers to mug (and possibly kill, due to excessive force) some local thugs and rob a gas station. However, an propane tank explosion during the latter incident knocks Andrew out and sets him on fire. He's in the hospital with burns and under police guard, as the incident was caught on the gas station's security cameras At his bedside, his upset father informs the unconscious Andrew that his mother has died while he was out looking for the missing Andrew. His grief quickly turns to anger at Andrew and he grabs Andrew to strike him. Andrews promptly awakens, grabs his father's incoming hand, and blows out the outer wall of his hospital room with such force the authorities initially believe the hospital was bombed

Nearby, Matt has an intense nosebleed/headache and, sensing a problem with Andrew just as Steve did, drives with Casey to the nearby hospital. Andrew appears, floating outside the hospital window and drops his father, who Matt proceeds to save and bring into the car with himself and Casey. Andrew's offended by the interference and puts their car on top of the Seattle Space Needle despite Matt's unsuccessful attempts to counter the telekinetic grip. As the car rises, Andrew extracts his father from it and throws him to his death anyway. Matt tries to reason with Andrew, but Andrew is convinced he has evolved (referring to himself as "an apex predator") and shows no compassion or remorse.

A battle commences, with Andrew crashing a helicopter and throwing police cars, officers and civilians alike. Matt is only able to contend with Andrew because his cousin is lashing out wildly, attacking police forces and bystanders as much as he is his cousin. A series of blindside attacks stuns Andrew, and Matt tries to tell assembled and panicked police forces to calm down and leave the downed Andrew alone--and a nervous policeman shoots his finger off. Andrew recovers and Matt begs him to stop, but Andrew doesn't even listen and starts to scream, damaging all of the buildings around them at the same time Left with no other alternative to quell Andrew's unfocused rage, Matt desperately forces a nearby statue's spear through Andrew's chest, killing him instantly. The police surround Matt, but he recovers after a moment and flies away before they can react.

The final scene shows Matt, with Andrew's camera, landing in Tibet where Andrew previously said he wanted to visit due to its spiritual and tranquil nature. Matt apologizes and tells his now-deceased cousin that he loved him, even if he never said it to his face. He vows to both use his powers for good and find out what exactly happened to them in the hole. With that, Matt says, "you made it" into Andrew's camera and proceeds to fly away, leaving the camera focused on a Tibetan temple in the distance.

Cast

• Dane DeHaan as Andrew Detmer
• Michael B. Jordan as Steve Montgomery
• Alex Russell as Matt Garetty
• Michael Kelly as Richard Detmer
• Ashley Hinshaw as Casey Letter
• Anna Wood as Monica
• Joe Vaz as Michael Ernesto

Promotion

A trailer can be found at Yahoo Movies along with their viral marketing efforts in New York City using "flying people".

Reception

Critical response

Chronicle has received positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 87% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 68 reviews, with an average score of 7.3/10, making the film a "Certified Fresh" on the website's rating system. The consensus states "It arrives during a glut of found-footage films, but Chronicle transcends its gimmicks with a smart script, fast-paced direction, and engaging performances from its young, talented cast." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 69, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews". Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, saying 'From [the] deceptively ordinary beginning, Josh Trank's "Chronicle" grows into an uncommonly entertaining movie that involves elements of a superhero origin story, a science-fic­tion fantasy and a drama about a disturbed teenager.' He gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4. Empire Magazine critic Mark Dinning gave the film 4 stars out of a possible 5, saying the film was 'A stunning superhero/sci-fi that has appeared out of nowhere to demand your immediate attention.' On the negative side, Andrew Schenker of Slant Magazine gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying the film 'offers up little more than a tired morality play about the dangers of power, rehashing stale insights about the narcissism of the documentary impulse.'.

External links

• Chronicle at AllMovie
• Chronicle at Metacritic
• Chronicle at Rotten Tomatoes
• Chronicle at IMDb