What's Your Superpower?

Blog Entry #2 - Film Review

Chronicle (2012) - Josh Trank

Chronicle is unlike any movie I have ever seen before, it clashes fantasy and reality like never before. This movie captures the story of a group of friends who acquire super-human powers and follows them while they embrace and handle the power that they are given. I wanted to look deeper into the movie because I found it so interesting and I wanted to know how they came up with this plot and executed it so well in a film. 

This film follows a troubled but creative teen (Andrew) who has a creative mind and a high-quality HD camera. He is very much an introvert and socially awkward but he has a close group of friends, Matt and Steve, who make a discovery one night that leads them to acquire powerful telekinetic abilities. This is the ability to move things with your mind, this ability can help you do almost anything. The powers test the integrity of their characters as they begin to disagree with each other and become more and more irresponsible in their activities. For Andrew however, he is drawn to a much more darker side. One that leads to a more harrowing and decisive destiny.

Josh Trank is an American film writer, director and editor. He is fairly new to the film world with his best known film being Chronicle. He also directed the cable drama The Kill Point and the short film Big Fan. Josh Trank's directing debut Chronicle opened #1 on it's opening weekend, making him the youngest director in history to top the US box office at the age of 27, he is followed by Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. 

The Kill Point was one of my favorite television shows when it was out and I am not surprised that the same person created the quality film Chronicle. Chronicle is unlike The Kill Point in that it is filmed from a first person point of view and it is also filmed using a handy cam. Because Trank does not have much previous work to relate too especially since The Kill Point is a television show not a film it makes it a little hard. The Kill Point follows a group of Marines attempting a bank heist and the police officers trying to stop them. I can see that Trank likes to produce realistic types of film with most of his work being high quality realistic scenarios that keep the audience engaged and on the edge of their seats. 

Chronicle was filmed in a newer Cinéma vérité ("truthful cinema") style of film making  a type of "found footage" film. This style combines a first person style of documentary film making  which combines naturalistic camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. Chronicle looks at how people can use power for good or evil, as well as what will result from their choices. Power has long been a central preoccupation of social and cultural analysis, and a focus of our world.  A good example of this is; tomorrow the American people are going to give one man the most power in the country. Everyone wants power and Andrew and his friends were given the ultimate power. According to Rotten Tomato the target audience of Chronicle was people younger than 25. I know that this film attracted me with its amount of action it sold and I love the style of filming used. 

The film does not showcase any strong stereotypes but I believe the whole film is based off of an offensive message, power. Power is one of the most corrupt things in our world and this film really represents how power can change people, or in this case bring out their true colors. This film takes such a dark turn that I had no idea was coming and it ended up sending a powerful message to the audience. The best way I can explain it is that Trank captured the power that power has. 

"Chronicle veers to the dark side, turning its wobbly eye on the corrupting force of unshackled and unlimited strength." - Chronicle Review

This film captures naturalism in the super hero genre lie never before. I thought this film was visually and thematically astounding. Positives of Chronicle are the amazing visual effects, the realistic story line and for me the found footage style of filming. I do not think this film would have been what it is without using the style of filing and method that Trank used. Chronicle does lack a back-story and gives you no real build up to who these teens are that the audience is all of a sudden so focused on. It also embraces naturalism in a really good way and a really bad way. I think the naturalism helps the overall build up of the storyline but towards the end it becomes very fantasy like and I think much of the naturalism is lost. Trank does not have many works yet but this is by far his best and I cannot wait to see what Trank produces in the future. 

Quality Interview with Trank - Interview

Cast and Director Interviews (video) - Exclusive Interview

I had already seen some of Trank's past work without even knowing it until I researched Chronicle. Much of Trank's work is right up my alley and I find it quality and worth watching. I own Chronicle personally and I know many of my friends and much of my family has watched the film and enjoyed it. This critique helped me realize that experiencing a film is not just seeing it in the theaters but its deeper than that. By looking into the film deeper I was able to find out more about the Director, the cast and where the plot line came from. I also enjoyed reviews by both regular people and so called "critics" or "experts". I was pleased to see most of the feedback and reviews were positive and the majority felt the same way I do about the film. I would tell anyone to really watch out for Trank in the future and if you haven't seen any of his work I would highly suggest Chronicle and The Kill Point. 

Chronicle - Rotten Tomatoes http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicle via @RottenTomatoes