Did you know Chronicle is a really good movie?

[Magus]

This movie perfectly encapsulates why character development is a much more important part of a "superhero movie" than what powers the dude has, or how many dudes with powers are in the movie, or like, whether he blow up stuff real good.

Andrew is a tragic figure on par with the great tragic heroes of fiction. He is probably the most realistically drawn portrait of a troubled teenager in recent movies (possibly ever), while also being the most realistically drawn portrait of what a troubled teenager would do if given super powers. Matt is also a very interesting foil to him: someone who could be popular, has the looks and the personality, but because of his intense intelligence comes off as arrogant and distant (not helped by his awkward paraphrasing of existential philosophy in an attempt to impress a girl who is also a camera-nerd like Andrew), going out of his way not to be "cool", which of course makes him cool to Andrew, who due to his own social awkwardness is bullied horrifically by his classmates. Steven rounds out the group as being a somewhat one-note "golden boy", the jock who is intensely popular, but whose own actions send Andrew on the eventual path he takes in the second half of the film.

Note: please ignore the commercials that render Andrew as seemingly one-note villain (he's actually the main character, btw). This is easily one of the most complex renditions of a character I have seen in years, especially in a science fiction movie.

Also ignore the part of your brain that is going "oh, no, not another POV shaky-cam film". 1. The camera is not actually shaky, and 2. they solve the POV problem pretty early in the film ( Andrew figures out how to make the camera hover and float about pretty quickly). Unlike pretty much every movie to use it since the Blair Witch Project, it's not a gimmick (well, it's a gimmick right near the end, but it's actually pretty well done in that part, so I'll let it slide) but part of the plot.

I will venture that Chronicle is, if not the best superhero movie of all time, probably the second- or third-best. Like this movie is seriously good. It's funny and entertaining and thought-provoking. If you haven't seen it, see it before they take it out of theaters, or watch it on DVD when you can. It really is a must-see film.

This movie again illustrates that all the special-effects in the world don't mean crap if you don't have the writing and acting to back it up. This movie was made on a budget of 12 million but it's on-par with The Dark Knight in my mind, and may actually surpass it. For all its short running length (I think an hour-and-a-half, though it felt like less), it has the kind of dramatic weight that I think has been missing from so many "blockbuster" superhero films, while not being dragged down by its own pretentiousness or "wink wink nudge nudge" satire (such as we see in films like Super or Kick-Ass).

It also probably has the advantage of not being based on an actual super hero comic, and so can focus on deconstructing the genre and getting across much simpler, narrower message than a Batman or Superman film does, where they get bogged down in the mythology behind their respective heroes.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I had a feeling that movie was going to be good. Shame I didn't watch it, now I feel bad.


Aw well I'll just buy the Blu-ray set when it comes out.

[Magus]

Well, it apparently has made 50 million so fortunately for an indie film it has been quite successful...does 12 million count as indie? I think it does in this industry nowadays...anyway, unlike so many films, this one actually deserves to make a crapton of money.

[Amake]

For the first couple of sentences I thought this was an essay about Chronicles of Riddick. Had not heard of this movie; I will check it out posthaste.

And yes 12 a million dollar budget is probably within the bounds of independent filming by most definitions. Much less than that and we're talking about a zero-budget movie.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Yeah I liked this movie. Really good film, and pretty much a spot on depiction of how I'd imagine people would deal with suddenly developing super powers IRL. Or at least, it's pretty much what I would do if I suddenly had telekinetic powers.

[Magus]

Originally Posted by Hawk

Yeah I liked this movie. Really good film, and pretty much a spot on depiction of how I'd imagine people would deal with suddenly developing super powers IRL. Or at least, it's pretty much what I would do if I suddenly had telekinetic powers.

I liked how when they learned to fly, they discovered how dangerous it actually would be (and cold).

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I loved the movie. It is totally White Akira in the sense that it perfectly adapts the idea of getting psychic powers to American sensibilities. No government conspiracies or Hiroshima analogues, just a couple of friends dicking around together with things starting to escalate out of their control.

Can't wait for the sequel, I'm actually familiar with the writer from his youtube monologue on "Knightfall", but I do hope they drop the found footage aspect rather than feeling beholden to it.

[Doc ock rokc]

I liked the movie. no 'liked' is the wrong word, I LOVED this movie... However due to my own personal history it struck dangerously close to home. While I feel that I am not close to Andrew I have managed to survive some of the things that he has experienced ( but if my mom died and I was blamed for it I would flip the fuck out as well)

To make this movie a bit more akward with me Me and my brother (who fits Matt to a T) watched this together with our dad...yeah...

[synkr0nized]

Wow.

I was hoping this was all, like, sarcasm. But you guys seem to actually like this movie.

I cannot fathom why. What starts out entertaining in the first bits -- just regular guys getting crazy powers and not immediately going "lol super heroes" with it, cracking jokes, etc. -- was pretty good. I recall the audience laughing with the movie. It didn't take long for everyone to swap to laughing at it, though. The angst plotline and utter lack of character development made for a highly disappointing movie. Practically everyone was laughing at how dumb it was by the climax.


So far, in recent months, the only thing contending with it for worst movie is Ghost Rider 2. The latter is totally Comedy of the Year, though.




e: Like I am seeing comments about the writing... What writing? This movie gives off the impression that a few guys sat around in a bar, came up with an admittedly interesting movie idea, and then never expanded beyond that initial brainstorming. Sure, they have a script that goes on for however long the movie is, but it definitely lacks any kind of oomph.

e: Andrew totally is a one-note villain. Oh man.
Is this something you have to have been an awkward kid to think is complex or something?

[Magus]

Originally Posted by synkr0nized

e: Andrew totally is a one-note villain. Oh man.
Is this something you have to have been an awkward kid to think is complex or something?

How is he one-note? He's physically abused by his father and classmates (I think you missed the part where they actually put him in a headlock and slap him in the face), has a dying mother, ends up attacking people to try and steal money for her medicine, and then after getting half-blown up is again attacked by his father who has just told him his mother is dead and that it's his fault. I think they did a far better job of justifying his misanthropy than pretty much any "villain" in these super hero movies.

Yes, the plot is simple. I think that's its biggest strength.

I'm not saying it's a perfect superhero film but pretty close to it.

Not sure what audience you saw it with, from what I could tell everyone else in the theater was as fairly moved as I was by the plight of the characters. Some of them even audibly gasped at the father telling Andrew his mother was dead, which, being as how it was an eminently foreseeable plot point, speaks to the dramatic weight of that scene.

So apparently we had entirely different experiences watching it.