Chronicle

The found-footage genre has cemented itself very strongly in the past 3 years now. Ever since the 1997 film, "The Last Broadcast" and the 1999 film, "The Blair Witch Project", people have seemed to have mixed feelings about the way the two films were made. Some thought it evolutionized the horror genre, and others called them the biggest waste of their time.

Afterwards, the found-footage genre was then lost in the depths of Hollywood, for almost a decade. It wasn't until JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves had released "Cloverfield", and got people interested in the genre once again. Anticipation and suspense had filled most people on the film, and the genre had risen from the ashes of Hollywood.

Soon, the "Paranormal Activity" films started to be the newest horror series competing with the "Saw" franchise. Due to the success of "Paranormal Activity," other films tried to cash in on it, by doing exactly what they did. "Paranormal Entity" was made as a joke towards the film, done by Asylum studios, who's most famous for making the "Mega Shark" films. "The Last Exorcism" is another example of a horror flick cashing in on the genre, basically being an exorcist movie. But, I didn't see the film, so that's all I can say about it. "Apollo 18" was another film cashing in on the genre, however it had been taking a thrashing by many critics, basically being the film that killed the found-footage genre, up until "Paranormal Activity 3" brought it back on it's feet. There have also been rumors about another "Scary Movie" to be released later on in the year, and said to spoof the newly resurrected genre. The point being, no matter how you look at it, found-footage films seem to be a strong part in pop-culture.

So after witnessing the dreadful 3D of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace", I went to see the newest found-fotage film, "Chronicle". And let me tell you, I have very mixed feelings about the movie.

The story revolves around a bunch of teens named Andrew, his cousin Steve, and class senator Steve, who discover an underground tunnel somewhere in the forest. They go in to check, and find some mysterious alien-like boulder. They then wake up the next day, to realize that they have new telekinetic powers and start to learn more about it. All the while, Andrew tries to deal with these powers, as well as deal with his mother dying, being abused by his alcoholic father, and anger issues. The film is interestingly useful in what it does, with the found-footage, and I can easily say that while I'm consfused about it, I am glad I saw it. It has elements of the superhero genre, the struggles of whether or not your friends are really your friends, and family problems. It does give reasons on how some angles can be seen, mostly during the ending, but sometimes it just makes you wish that this movie was just made as a regular movie, and not found-footage. It does get confusing at times, but you soon catch on, that some people probably live that way, in terms of social life. Not that they actually have powers, but with regular life. Basically, I have the same feelings for it, with the "Paranormal Activity" films, "Blair Witch", and "Cloverfield."

Overall, "Chronicle" is probably something that I'm sure people MIGHT enjoy, if they're into the genre. Is it worth it?...Well, that's for the viewers to decide.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

6/10