Chronicle Movie: Synopsis, Movie Reviews

Chronicle is set to be released in theaters February 3rd.

Chronicle Movie Synopsis

Originally a story by director Josh Trank and screenplay writer Max Landis, Chronicle is about three high school boys who find super powers in an incredible discovery.

Andrew, who begins video filming his life on a camera he recently purchased. His father is an abusive alcoholic and a retired, injured firefighter. His mother is dying from cancer and he's bullied by most kids in school. 

Steve and Matt approach Andrew after they discover something strange and ask Andrew to film it. They've found a mysterious hole in the ground and decide to go in and follow a glowing object. When they touch the object, it turns red and blacks out.

Weeks later, the three have discovered they have developed telekinetic powers that allow them to move and stop objects of any size with their minds. During a thunderstorm, an aggressive driver on the road continues to honk at them. Andrew becomes angry and sends the motorist flying into a ditch. Matt and Steve call for help, and decide they need to set ground rules for using their powers. 

Andrew becomes increasingly hostile and bitter because of how he's treated at home and school, and he soon starts using his powers to do evil things to those that wrong him.

Chronicle Movie Reviews

Cinema Blend - "With CGI effects that range from passable to glaring, and a found footage gimmick that eventual hurts more than it helps, Chronicle isn't a low-budget genre masterwork like Attack the Block, but it's also a whole lot better than many of the more traditional superhero movies we've seen."

IGN - Michael B. Jordan is charisma personified as Steve, the smart, successful class president candidate whose life is further charmed by the arrival of the powers. Alex Russell is likeably charming as Matt, a clumsy, philosophy-spouting pseudo-intellectual with a good heart and a wicked sense of humour. And Dane DeHaan - who looks disconcertingly like a young Leonardo DiCaprio - is a revelation as Andrew, a troubled kid with a tough home-life, for whom the powers offer fleeting happiness and popularity before opening a door to something more sinister.

Star News Online - Featuring effects that put the last two “Spider-Man” movies to shame, engaging, believable characters and a kind of real-teens / real-problems melodramatic screenplay, this makes an entertaining exercise in that child's game, “What would YOU do if you had super powers?”

Matt Pais, of  Red Eye says "Max Landis’ script takes too long to establish conflict, but he captures kids pretending to be knowledgeable and adult before realizing they’re neither yet. Several audience members in the screening were laughing at moments I didn’t find laughable, and afterward I overheard someone remark that “Chronicle” is worse than “Jumper.” 1. Not even close to that bad. 2. Just because “Chronicle” features dudes jumping into the sky doesn’t mean the movie has that much in common with “Jumper.”"


State Journal Register - The flying effects are first-rate, a marvelous next-generation version of something we’ve seen done reasonably well since “Superman.” This film strips that “Spider-Man” animation away and shows us human beings frolicking in the clouds — convincingly. The video gimmick has been done to death, and on a couple of occasions, how we get the footage we’re watching falls outside of the movie’s own logic loop. The gimmick never lets you forget that this is “Cloverfield” meets “Fantastic Four.”

Yahoo Entertainment - First-time director Josh Trank managed to get the most out of this fantasy well enough. With a well-written screenplay by Max Landis, both have produced a refreshing and updated movie to the superhero genre. And similar to "Paranormal Activity" and "Cloverfield", the story is told with Andrew's camera using Point-of-View footage.

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Chronicle Movie Trailer

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sourced by Emily Sutherlin