CHRONICLE
5 out of 5 stars

i HATED paranormal activity. i HATED blair witch. ugh....and CLOVERFIELD? no way, jose... that style of digi camera work bothers me to the core. but i LOVED chronicle. it’s refreshing to watch a movie that features superheroes and villains that aren’t from the minds of marvel comics. :P

so, what exactly is this movie about? andrew (dane dehaan) decides to buy himself a video camera to start filming his life, especially the part where his father physically abuses him while his mother is dying in the next room. (i think she might have cancer? whatever...she’s really REALLY sick...) andrew is a loner, and is always getting picked on at school/home/neighborhood...the bullying never stops for him. he’s picked up from school everyday by his fun cousin matt (alex russell), and the two seem to be close? the two get invited to a rave party at some barn, and they along with matt’s friend/mr. popularity steve (michael b. jordan) discover a ginormous hole in the ground near the barn... they decide to crawl down to see what’s there, and that’s when they get affected by this alien radiation/substance/???. the trio somehow make it out of the hole in tact, and that’s when they start exhibiting supernatural powers i.e. telekinesis, super strength, even flight! they start to pull pranks on people at the mall, in the parking lot... however, things get really serious when andrew causes a major car accident by making a truck fall off a bridge! matt and steve being the pacifists decide to put down some rules, but andrew’s powers/lack of control grow stronger day by day. and, it could only be fueled by one thing... and they said emotions aren’t powerful? ;)

EXCELLENT movie with great character development (esp. andrew as the anti-hero), great storyline, and extra points for style. :) i thought the ending was a bit over the top, but generally, it’s kept pretty realistic/low key. there’s no crazy demi-god trying to take over the world. there’s no weird alien species trying to take over earth. all you have here is a lonely/depressed teenage boy who longs to be accepted and loved, but isn’t... andrew’s story is sad. it’s actually sort of cliche too, if you think about it. but wait until you see how andrew “snaps”... magneto would have taken cover. :P