Chronicle

Chronicle

Directed By: Josh Trank
Written By: Max Landis

Produced By: John Davis, Adam Shroeder

Cast: Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Alex Russell

Plot: Lonely teen Andrew decides to document his life on film, but when he and his friends find a mysterious object underground that give them telekinetic powers, things take a turn for the worst.

After the recent string of 'found footage' films (Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield etc) Chronicle is a breath of fresh air. We view it from the perspective of Andrew, a disturbed teenager who uses his camera as a means of an escape from his abusive father who beats him regurlarly. But throughout the course of the film we switch between a few different perspectives. In the finale, the Director cleverly uses various onlookers who are videoing from their mobile phones as the audiences viewpoint. A television crew and a police helicopter are also used as viewpoints. 

When Andrew (DeHaan), Matt (Russell) and Steve (Jordan) find a strange crystal like structure underground whilst attending a party, the film suddenly becomes very dark. Symbolism is used with the weather. Each day seems to get more miserable, grey skies, rain and eventually a storm depicts the darkening mood of the film. I feel that whilst not showing the audience what really happens underground is a clever technique to keep us guessing, I think that it is also a negative point for the film. I would've liked an expansion on what happened, and what the structure is and where it comes from. And whilst there is some speculation from the characters we never really find out.

Dane DeHaan, who plays both the antagonist and protagonist, Andrew Detmer, is excellent at changing his characters emotions. For example, in the scene where he stands up to his father, the way in which he switches between cowardice and rage is astounding. From that point on, we see how the character has bottled up all these feelings for years, and because of his new powers, he is able to unleash this. Whilst this is a hybrid of genres, one of the most important themes of the film is coming of age. We see the lead characters grow up, and learn to take responsibility for their actions.

I was also quite surprised at how gritty this film was considering that it is a 12A here in Britain. There are a few moments that are quite dark. And whilst there are some elements of comedy, towards the end we see things spiral out of control. I admire the way that the Director has made this a superhero movie, without it being a stereotypical film about a hero fighting a terrifying evil. It is about a group of friends who are fighting themselves and their own emotions. 

7/10

Written by Eammon Jacobs

Fight Club

Fight Club

Directed By: David Fincher

Written By: Jim Uhls (Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk) 

Produced By: Art Linson, Cean Chaffin, Ross Grayson Bell 

Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meatloaf, Jared Leto

Plot: An unnamed narrator forms an unusual group with an equally unusual soap maker, that changes his whole perspective on himself, and the life we lead.

Since it's release, Fight Club has become both influential and controversial in many ways. It's scenes of violence inspired many young men around the world to start their own Fight Clubs, and sparked off several individuals into creating havoc in their local neighborhoods, mirroring some of the acts seen in the film. It has been described as 'visceral' and 'eye opening'. The film is rather stylised, making it look quite dark and grimy, giving us an insight to what the narrator feels his life is like. 

Edward Norton portrays the unnamed narrator in his bland world, and his performance is superb. It can be narrowed down to three sections; the first part is where we see how sad and lonely he is, and how he feels that his life has no purpose. The second is how he learns to change, and become something more, to give his life a purpose. And the final part sees him fulfill this, but taking into account his experiences. Norton is able to make these three parts slip together with ease. 

Brad Pitt's performance as the pyschotic, but intelligently philosophical Tyler Durden is astounding. He comes across as a charismatic, mysterious character. We as the audience aren't quite sure what he has done or been through, but he comes across as a substitute father-figure for our narrator. This is because he tells him things and teaches him certain lessons that the narrators absent father should have. This in fact becomes a regular theme throughout the film, as Tyler becomes a father figure and an idol for many young men throughout the country due to 'Project Mayhem'.

Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Marla Singer is a rather interesting one. She can flip between smart, kind, caring crazed within a matter of seconds, a rather impressive feat. If a little typical of Carter's performances. The final twist in the plot will leave your brain reeling trying to work it out. The way in which David Fincher unveils the big reveal is visually impressive and very intelligent. 

Fight Club is one of the most astounding, cunning, inspiring films ever to have been created, and is a work of art.

9.5/10

Written By Eammon Jacobs

Disturbia

Disturbia (2007)

Directed By: D.J Caruso
Written By: Christopher Landon, Carl Ellsworth
Produced By: Jackie Marcus Schaffer, Joe Medjuk, E. Bernett Walsh, Ivan Reitman

Cast: Shia LeBeouf, David Morse, Carrie-Anne-Moss, Sarah Roemer, Aaron Yoo

Plot: When kale (LeBeouf) is placed under house arrest for attacking a teacher, he finds himself with nothing to do. To entertain himself, he spies on his surrounding neighborhood, and starts to suspect that one of his neighbors is a serial killer.

Disturbia is an adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film, Rear Window, which basically has the same premise, a man confined to his apartment after an accident and spies on his neighbors, to find that one of them is a killer. Whilst the film doesn't gave an original storyline, it's content differs greatly from Hitchcock's classic. The film starts with the tragic death of Kales father, sparking off various 'Daddy issues' for the character and essentially setting the story up. Shia LeBeouf had plenty of room for emotional development on Kale, but I feel that he squandered this. The peak of his emotions is limited to the excellent punch to the Spanish teachers face in the opening twenty minutes. 

Another negative about Shia LeBeouf's performance is that he plays the same character in every movie that he features. The smart yet rebellious teenager, who's laddish charm always gets the girl (I.e the Transformer movies). He is however quite amusing, and has some genuinely funny moments, but he has become too generic. His sidekick/bestfriend (Aaron Yoo) and his love interest (Sarah Roemer) are also typical teen movie characters, but their performances are fairly respectable. 

I was quite impressed with the acting of the serial killer (David Morse). He came across to the audience as quite calm, sophisticated and intelligent whilst also being quite sadistic and unhinged. For the first three quarters of the film, it is a smart, well thought out, slightly different thriller. The way the three friends set up shifts with the video cameras is quite smart, perhaps a little bit Scooby-Doo for a 15 rated film. The finale of the film was slightly reminiscent of various horror movies (Scream, Halloween etc), but was quite pacy.

I was impressed with the intensity and intelligence of the film, but I feel that they could've done alot more to make the film different from the generic horror-slasher features. 

6/10.

Written by Eammon Jacobs