Films: Chronicle

Plans of to make a real-life, Hollywood adaptation of Akira has been running the rumor mills for years now. Zac Efron has been rumored to be playing a starring role. Perhaps now that Chronicle has been made and released, all of that potential horror can be laid to rest. Chronicle is Akira.

The story is this: three so-so American teens—two weird, one normal—gain telekinetic powers vis-à-vis an alien entity. Their discovery and development make for the films best moment, as the boys start out by mentally curve-balling baseballs and end by playing tropospheric catch and toss.  Teens being teens, they don’t use these powers for good. Instead use it to terrorize shoppers and win the big talent quest—getting the girl in the process. Basically, Chronicle is a boys version of The Craft.

Like the Craft, one of them goes a little tadge crae crae:

Andrew Detmer

Nancy Downs

Although in the Chronicle things are on a much larger scale. Not that anyone other than the boys ever really notice. There are (thankfully!) no shady government agents or prying parents; aside from the beleaguered Andrew Detmer's abusive father. Where Chronicle betters the Craft is in it's giving Andrew's father plausible reasons for being so. Everyman has his reasons, and when it comes time for Andrew to spin out of control, you don't really blame him.

One thing that both helps and hinders Chronicle is its use of the "handy-cam diary" style. It throws you straight in and leaves every cliche out. And as Andrew learns to levitate the camera around him, we're given a cinematic view, rather than a permanently jaunty Cloverfield-style one. Yet for all this some of it becomes a little labored- such as the insertion of a love interest who also happens to be permanently video-blogging. It's as Andrew's mind disintegrates (and therefore his camera work) that the whole media-overload idea is overdone. The worst moment is when Andrew winds up with a plethora of phones circling him mid-air. This is a man who wants to kill everyone, not pull a Chris Crocker:

Who, in this light, doesn't look dissimilar to Nancy Downs. But don't let that tenuous connection frighten you away; Chronicle is a clever, exciting and surprisingly affecting teenage saga.