Imagine Bruce Banner, Charles Xavier, Peter Parker, Magneto, and Superman. Meld them together and split the product into 3 separate high school seniors. Add the thought of natural selection through the mind of the one who inherited the tortured soul of Peter Parker, the dormant hatred and strength of the Hulk, and the absolute vengeance of Magneto.
Now, add the two others, one with the charisma and popularity of a young Charles Xavier, and the other with the wisdom, courage and sensible thought processes of the late Professor X, and Bruce Banner. Give them Superman’s strength, speed and resistance to damage. Throw in telekinesis and let the “Grab you by the throat and hold you at the edge of your seat” sleeper movie of the millennium take you away. Here’s a nice little teaser trailer for you.
By sleeper, I don’t mean it’s boring. In fact, its the total opposite. Sleeper movies are feature films that start off easy, and “Chronicle” is one of them. It’ll give you subtle hints of what’s to come that you won’t catch until either later in the movie, or the next time you watch it. Now, although it starts off in a slow walking pace, it keeps your interest with some trots thrown in there at some points. Those trots become more frequent until it becomes the pace of the movie and you’ve just started to develop a familiarity with it. Then it ups the ante with a jog. It keeps doing this every time you become accustomed to a change in the pace until it’s in a full-blown sprint like a monkey from a box! The final huzzah comes at the perfect time, however… Just in time to completely throw you from this immersive emotional roller-coaster just as your pulling 5G’s (That’s 5 times the force of gravity on Earth) in a sudden 90° arc powerful enough to give the tracks whiplash!
If there’s a more powerful recommendation to give to someone about a movie, I don’t know it. Seriously, I’ve seen a LOT of movies from many different generations, including ones from the silent film era (“Sherlock Jr.” with Buster Keaton being a favorite). If you haven’t gone to see “Chronicle”, just know that you’re missing out on a cinematic adventure that is guaranteed (not by me. That’s a lot of pressure!) to make you sit jaw-dropped and wide-eyed for the majority of the movie. Now, with my history of movies that are shot in first person (“The Blair Witch Project”, “Cloverfield”), I almost began to dislike the movie from the get-go. I mean, I hate First-Person movies with the burning passion of 1000 suns… But after watching this amazing work of cinematic art, My Shots rating for “Chronicle” is…
BLACKOUT DRUNK! Your name right now is “Mluurf”.
Drink lots of water, and contact me in the morning (in the comments section below ↓)