Chronicle is the latest in the found-footage school of filmmaking. It's not exactly found footage, but uses point-of-view shots from a hand-held camera as the way to tell the story.
Teenager Andrew (Dane DeHann) lives with his abusive father and dying mother.
'I'm filming everything here on out' as a way to protect himself, he says.
One day, Andrew, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and friend Steve (Michael B. Jordan) discover an unusual cave and, days later, develop superpowers. Soon there's a power struggle, and Andrew's pent-up frustration takes hold.
The movie takes 'realistic' sci-fi to new heights, with the bonus of a dude with superpowers pranking the unsuspecting. After a while, though, the novelty wears thin. You're left with a film that fails to rise above the incredible effects. Also, Act IV is silly: the final conflict ends too abruptly.
Chronicle is too caught up with the idea of found footage to go beyond the limits of the genre. No doubt, shooting an entire film with a hand-held is restrictive. It's a tricky choice: follow the tradition 100 per cent or diverge a little for the sake of clarity or a better shot. Chronicle chooses the former, so it often fails to create an interesting shot. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with a traditional narrative.