Chronicle, or What Would Probably Happen if Teens Were Given Super Powers

I missed Chronicle when it was released properly this winter. It garnered many strong reviews, but it was a busy time (aren't they all?) and I just didn't quite get there.

My friend Allen, who watches for these things, discovered that it had arrived at our local second run theater, so a couple of weekends ago, Bryon, Allen and myself headed over to watch Chronicle.

Chronicle is a shaky cam film. It starts off with the conceit that the most troubled boy in the film (social misfit who is bullied, beaten by his father, and emotionally traumatized waiting for his mother's death) has decided to film everything about his life with a second-hand camera he has bought. The filming portion extends beyond this conceit, becoming security footage and personal footage from a peripheral character. This is perhaps the most troubling part of the film, because there's no plot reason given for the lack of cohesion in shooting the footage, or any kind of rationale given for the compilation of the footage. Allen couldn't get past that, and it ruined the film for him. I managed to side step it as the conceit it was (a style of film making, rather than part of the narrative) so I moved forward.

What about the story?

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Mirrored from Writer Tamago.