Film Rewatch: Chronicle

Thoughts: Yeah, so.... this didn't work so well on a second viewing. It seems that once the giddiness of having superpowers wears off, and you know all the beats coming, what you're left with is an actually really clunky coming-of-age drama with no real character to speak of. People spout lines and hit notes, and act according to their station, but no one is really moved beyond cardboard cut-out status. Add that to how staged some of the scenes reveal themselves to be, and you get a mostly-boring lukewarm tale that so happens to have some cool visuals, rendered rather irrtating due to that damn handheld devotion.

The superpowers are still cool though, and flight is still as amazing as it ever was. The prank sequences still remain as the best sequences of the film, and the moments when the boys are learning and testing are easily the most well-handled. But outside of that, the cracks and seams start to show. The father is unnecessarily cruel with zero redeeming qualities, and the three boys are just puppets to the various points they need to make. There is really no substance to the film, aside from making some cool moments happen. In fact, the film is defined by its cool moments, and that is all it is. It is the very embodiment of our current generation in celluloid. The "me first, right now" generation; from the idea of getting superpowers, to the notion of popularity, to the lack of real education, right up to the very way the film is presented: through handheld footage cobbled together. Even the idea of lashing out at those who oppress or wrong you, and ability to throw a REAL temper tantrum at the end. It really is all one big piece of property labelled Y Gen. I'm only just now realizing all this as I type! How cool is that?!

I would like to give the extended cut a watch (I reran the Theatrical for the wife's sake) but not for a while. Maybe once I've let the traces of the film drain out of my subconscious a little bit. Then perhaps I'll be open to watching even more of this rather unsatisfactory tale.

2.5/5