- An unavoidable problem with the "found footage" approach to visual storytelling is that it requires at least one (usually jelly-nerved) character to be absolutely inseparable from their camera at all times. With that in mind, I have to commend Chronicle on its creative approach to this issue. Sure, the final battle scene nearly devolves into farce when shots cut from police car dash-cams to office building security footage, but the film's devotion to providing seemingly authentic footage is impressive. Of course, it's easier to have a camera floating around in a natural manner when the film's main characters have telekinetic powers.
- While the exceedingly mysterious and creepy cave where high school seniors Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Matt (Alex Russell), and Steve (Michael B. Jordan) were granted these powers remains mercifully unexplained, the film does an excellent job detailing how typical teenagers would use such abilities. In-crowd types Matt and Steve have fun playing mostly harmless pranks and tossing the pigskin around at 10,000 feet. In the film's best scene, the three young men have a ball making mayhem in a toy store, levitating stuffed animals and sending carts careening down the aisles. The painfully shy and awkward Andrew tries to join in the fun, too, but it doesn't take him long to realize that his newfound powers may provide a solution to his treatment at the hands of bullies, both school and parental (Michael Kelly) alike.
- The rest of the story follows a trajectory familiar to anyone who has seen reports of school shootings on the news. Fortunately, Chronicle also contains just enough interesting ideas, ranging from the alienating effects of media to the harmful influence of half-baked philosophy, that I don't mind overlooking its rather predictable final act. Furthermore, the film's acting is uniformly good, even if the visual effects are only barely good enough. In terms of filmmaking, I'll always prefer the usual shown and not shown to everything shown shakily, but I'll gladly admit that you could find far worse footage than this.
- The toy store scene also contains a great Star Wars reference when Andrew picks up a lightsaber.
