Chronicle

I've never been the biggest fan of 'found-footage' films, but actually Chronicle has a fancy trick up it's sleeve; telekinetic powers. No longer do we have to simply make do with awkward crotch shots and the breathtakingly rare sight of the main character whilst somebody else holds the camera... No, now we can sit back and watch all the characters, thanks to some floaty-filmic glory.

To be honest, Chronicle's trailer pretty much sums up 84 minutes of film in 20 seconds. Kid gets superpowers, kid goes bad. We're hardly talking Shakespeare here. And yet the way the film (and characters) develop over the course of the first hour is really a testament to a pretty solid script, and a strikingly talented acting front line. The special effects are especially impressive, particularly considering the film's relatively meagre budget. The director is also clever to weave in as many opportunities to find interesting camera angles as possible, meaning that the film keeps a fast pace, and doesn't suffer from stagnation by relying on a first-person-view for too long.

On a personal level, I couldn't help but notice a few quirks that did reflect slightly annoyingly after the movie. Andrew's mental state for example, seemed to be directly correlated to how attractive he's looking at any given moment. At first, an unattractive geeky loner, he rapidly gets hotter (coincidentally as he gets more popular - I wonder what subliminal messages Hollywood is trying to tell us here...), before getting injured and scarred and descending into madness.

Judging by Dane DeHaan's smouldering good looks, I would guess this is about 52 minutes in...

For me though, the film is best summed up by a single sentence, graciously and enthusiastically stolen from the girl leaving the cinema directly behind me; "That was really f*cked up... but in the good way"