Thursday, June 28, 2012

Chronicle (2012)

I am like Andrew- shy, afraid of confrontation, reclusive. I have wished I had powers, wished I had a magic pill. I guess everyone wishes for those but many people don't really need it; they're just being greedy. Try giving Superman power to shoot webs from his wrist on top of his existing abilities. He has no use for it. He'd probably punch you in the face for wasting his time. But the same powers in the possession of a weaker person would do him world of good. I liked Chronicle for the same reasons I liked LIMITLESS and portions of CAPTAIN AMERICA. 

There are two ways a weak person would react to his powers: he'd try to fit in or he'd flip out. Years of alienation did Andrew no good and he embraces his new powers by choosing the latter. He considers himself the apex predator, and sees nothing wrong in hurting other humans. Do we feel guilty for squatting flies, he asks. So, yes, we keep going back to what Uncle Ben said: "With great power comes great responsibility." 

However crazy they may sound, we have had time to get used to Spider Man or Hulk and we don't really have a problem accepting those theories. That's the first step of appreciating a superhero mythology. Which is exactly the reason why the source of their power remaining unexplained works better. Chronicle is a very good first movie and I hope they leave it at that. Would you have like to know what was inside the briefcase in Pulp Fiction? I hope not. Some things are best left untold and I told care to know how they ended up with the powers. There's clear indication that there will be a sequel where they'll become friendly neighborhood heroes, helping people out. Who wants that? There are dozens of others to do that, thank you.

I am not a fan of 'found footage' genre and I don't see why it was required for this film. It does not add to realism. It is plain annoying.