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Chronicle would be a much better film if they’d just toss the crutch

As yet another found-footage film, Chronicle makes a good argument against further use of this tired conceit.
RichardsHarleyMugMay23jer
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Chronicle

2 1/2 stars (out of 4)

Rated: 14A

As yet another found-footage film, Chronicle makes a good argument against further use of this tired conceit.

Director Josh Trank and screenwriter Max Landis, son of filmmaker John Landis, display enough raw talent and ingenuity in this sci-fi drama, their feature debut, to suggest better things to come.

They don’t need to lean on the rickety crutch of the old Blair Witch scam, in which characters are obliged to lug awkward camera equipment everywhere they go, documenting all they see and do. Chronicle does found-footage times two, since a female video blogger (Ashley Hinshaw) also contributes to the narcissism.

The story, which Trank helped develop, simply doesn’t require it, especially when you have a cast as strong as this one, unknowns only for now.

The ubiquitous camera actually robs Chronicle of some of its credibility. It takes the viewer out of the movie, prompting thoughts about why someone would be standing there filming when he/she should be more involved.

Fortunately, such concerns fade as we get to know the three protagonists and their acquired superpowers. The film also boasts special effects that were obviously done on a budget yet that rival anything Hollywood could throw big dollars at.

Introverted Seattle teenager Andrew (Dane DeHaan) has a plan for dealing with the bullying he’s suffering at home and at school, plus the mental stress of his mother’s terminal illness: he’ll document it all with the absurdly large camera he’s just bought.

As his chronically drunken father (Michael Kelly) hammers on his bedroom door, Andrew trains his new videocam upon it, vowing, “I’m filming everything from here on out.”

When close cousin Matt (Alex Russell), fond of quoting philosophers, tells Andrew that his new obsession won’t win him the new friends he craves, Andrew shrugs: “It serves a purpose.”

It does serve as a handy light source when Matt, Andrew and school politico Steve (Michael B. Jordan) discover a strange hole in the forest during a late-night school rave. Casting discretion to the wind, not to mention any semblance of logic, they dive into the hole, which has been emitting loud and ominous noises.

There they find strange throbbing blue crystals with organic interiors, the kind that would send anyone who has ever seen Alien hightailing it out of there. Instead the three explorers fondle the crystals, only to discover afterwards they’ve acquired advanced powers of telekinesis, the ability to move objects with their minds.

As with all superhero origin sagas, Matt, Andrew and Steve spend considerable time experimenting with their new powers, which include the ability to fly around the world like the characters in Jumper.

Being teenagers, their tests include a good number of pranks, but there are worrisome signs: a chronic nosebleed for Matt and Andrew’s sudden tendency to upchuck suggest this gift has unwanted side effects.

Matt, the slightly more mature member of trio, insists that they keep their powers secret and not use them with evil intent. Steve goes along but Andrew doesn’t, and it’s his rapid descent into a Faustian hell that powers Chronicle to its thrilling climax, which includes a spectacular fight above Seattle’s Space Needle.

By this point, I’d stopped thinking about found footage and starting recalling the chase scene atop the Space Needle in The Parallax View, Alan J. Pakula’s classic slice of 1970s paranoia.

Maybe there was something to it when one of the lads whispered “It’s the government” after finding those blue crystals. It opens the door for a Chronicle 2, but hopefully without the intrusive camera.

Peter Howell is a syndicated movie critic for the Toronto Star.