Chronicle: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

[[File:Chronicle_Film_Poster_700.jpg|frame|Angst-ridden teenager with unlimited power....perfectly safe.]]

 

''Chronicle'' is a 2012 [[Genre Busting|sci-fi/action/coming of age film]] directed by Josh Trank focusing on three teenage boys who discover a mysterious object in a cave on the outskirts of town. They soon discover that exposure to the object has granted each of them [[Mind Over Matter|telekinetic abilities]]. As they practice with their abilities, they get stronger with them, and learn to [[Flying Brick|fly and protect themselves from harm]]. While they don't exactly become heroic pillars of justice with their powers, they mostly use them for random pranks and goofing around, as teen boys do.

However, they soon discover that the gifts they have been granted may be drawing out their darker and more dangerous sides...

 

* [[A God Am I]]/[[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: {{spoiler|Andrew and his "Apex Predator" speech.}}

* [[Abusive Parents]]: Richard Detmer, especially in his final scene.

** And just in case that wasn't enough, {{spoiler|after Murphy's Law seems to have been fulfilled and Andrew is lying in a hospital bed, having likely caused his best friend's and possibly even his mother's deaths... his dad decides to [[Kick the Dog]]. Which turns out to be [[Bullying a Dragon]]. Cue the climax.}}

* [[Don't Make Me Destroy You]]: {{spoiler|Andrew}} threatens {{spoiler|his father}} nearly enough with exact words.

''' {{spoiler|Matt to Andrew before killing him}}''': Don't make me do this! }}

* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: Richard seems to have a shitty enough life for it.

* [[In-Universe Camera]]: Used consistently throughout the movie. Editing is achieved by jumping from camera to camera, including security cameras and cellphones. Also, even though the cameras are in universe, they are still able to film sections of it like a typical third person movie by having Andrew use his powers to levitate various cameras around. It's implied that {{spoiler|Andrew starts doing this unconsciously. Towards the end, he steals all the cameras and smartphones from every bystander in the Space Needle, for no real purpose other than to perhaps clinically document his rampage. He then seems to do the same thing with the cops, taking their dashboard and helmet cameras. Matt foreshadows/lampshades this early on when he says that the camera is like a barrier between Andrew and the world. Andrew's reply? "Maybe I want a barrier."}}

* [[Jerkass]]: It doesn't take much to realize that Andrew's father, Richard, is simply using his son as an outlet for venting his stress and passing blame for his family's financial issues from himself. He even calls Andrew selfish for keeping an expensive camera (that was a gift from his cousin) from him (after said camera caught him searching through his son's room, clearly looking for money.) True, he does care deeply for his wife and wants to help get her the treatment she needs, but that raises the question as to why he can't stop spending money on alcohol rather than blaming everything on his son. The fact that when we first hear his voice he's established to be a belligerent alcoholic that is essentially responsible for Andrew's instability doesn't help either.

'''Andrew:''' You don't pay for ''public school,'' you idiot! }}

* [[Jerkass Victim]]:

* [[Messianic Archetype]]: Steve comes the closest out of the three. He's also notably the first one to learn to fly.

* [[Mind Over Manners]]: Matt tries to establish rules for the safe and ethical use of their powers after their telekinesis gets so strong that Andrew almost kills a redneck trucker.

3. Don't use your powers in public. }}

* [[Mind Over Matter]]: The boys' powers.

* [[Power Perversion Potential]]: It's teen goofs with superpowers. The preview pretty much hangs a lampshade on it.

** At one point, they turn on a leaf blower to blow some girls' [[Panty Shot|skirts up]].

* {{spoiler|[[Protagonist Journey to Villain]]: Andrew}}

* [[Psychic Powers]]: Telekinesis, which is a very broad-range superpower for the creative.

* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: [[Subverted]]. {{spoiler|Andrew almost succeeds in killing his father, but, as he falls from a great height, he is rescued by Matt}}.

* [[Sequel Hook]]: There are subtle hints that the government is not unaware of the source of the boys' powers, and {{spoiler|Matt}} promises to "find out what happened." Also ''somebody'' had to collect all that footage and splice it together. And who else do you think would have gone to all the trouble to {{spoiler|dig up Andrew's first camera, that got buried with the meteorite/artifact?}}. By the way, a sequel is confirmed as being in the works.

* [[Shallow Love Interest]]: Casey is only in the film to be Matt's [[Love Interest]] (and to give the movie another cameraman to follow).

* [[Shoo Out the Clowns]]: {{spoiler|Steve is the most consistently easy-going and friendly character in the movie, who is also arguably the most laid-back about his powers. Interestingly, it is with his death that things go seriously down-hill and Andrew's [[Start of Darkness]] begins in earnest.}}