REVIEW BY TOM WORFOLK
Not a lot was known about this film… I hadn’t seen a trailer, not read about it in any magazines in fact I hadn’t even heard of it. Now that is not to say that I hadn’t seen anything or read anything about it but it just hadn’t stuck in my mind. The first time it jumped out at me was in fact when a couple of friends posted about it on Facebook.
Not a lot was known about this film… I hadn’t seen a trailer, not read about it in any magazines in fact I hadn’t even heard of it. Now that is not to say that I hadn’t seen anything or read anything about it but it just hadn’t stuck in my mind. The first time it jumped out at me was in fact when a couple of friends posted about it on Facebook.
Now I won’t name and shame them but suffice to say that these people are what I would consider “film buffs” – one of them has even produced and directed his own film – but they are usually quite critical with their opinions. So when they post on Facebook that this is a must see film I have to admit that my interest gets peaked.
And when I went to see it – I wasn’t disappointed….This film is awesome.
The story follows Andrew (Dane DeHaan), his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and a fellow high school student Steve (Michael B. Jordan) as they each receive special powers from an unknown artifact. Going through this “change” together brings them together as a close-nit group and they start to use their abilities for mischief and personal gain. Unfortunately the temptation of power is hard to resist and it isn’t long until it gets used for darker purposes.
This science fiction film is a directorial debut for Josh Trank and is the first feature film written by Max Landis and boy have they done a great job. It is presented to the viewer as “found footage” filmed by the gang on various differing video recording devices (mainly Andrew’s hand-held camcorder he uses to document his life). It has been made on a tight budget but it doesn’t suffer from it as the special effects are great. There is one scene where Andrew, in a fit of rage, closes his fist and the car next to him gets crushed from either end – how did they do that….?
The visual style puts the viewer right into the middle of things and it helps keep the pace quite fast as the group only really filmed things that were worth filming. The script is sharp and intelligent and the powerful performances from the three main characters make it stand out a mile from other “found footage” style films.
The film is excellent and really worth a watch – if you get the DVD/Bluray then watch it with the lights down low and the sound turned up to really immerse yourself.
Already looking forward to Chronicle 2…
No comments:
Post a Comment