Extreme originality, great story elements and a decent plot that makes Lord of the Flies seem like a gentle tropical island romp compared to Chronicle. Been bitten by a radioactive spider recently? Blasted by cosmic or gamma radiation?  Found a giant glowing crystal in an underground cavern? All of these and more are ways to become a powerful mutant, but only one applies in Chronicle, the latest teen “superhero” movie.

Three teenagers, one super popular, another trying hard to be and a third completely out of touch find a perfectly circular hole in the backyard. As teenagers will, they elect to climb into the hole, scramble through a tunnel and come to a very large glowing crystal. The crystal, in some unknown way, grants them powerful telekinetic abilities with which they immediately begin to experiment. The teens, finding themselves growing in power, are soon playing tricks on people, moving cars and even flying.

Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), the popular teen, manages to take it all in stride rejoicing in the fun of telekinesis. Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), the teen trying hard to be popular, struggles with the moral and ethical ramifications of power and what rules need to be in effect. Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) embraces the power and becomes intoxicated with it. His sociopathic tendencies lead him to the conclusion that he is an “apex” predator.

Not a pretty thought. Andrew, bullied all his life, becomes the ultimate bully. You’ll have to watch the rest of the movie to see the results. The movie that comes to mind is Carrie. Carrie, under her mother’s thumb, pushed around and teased by the other children and finally humiliated in front of the school unleashes the fury. I would suggest being nice to the disenfranchised youth…you just never know when they will manage to get ultimate power!

Chronicle is X-Men with a twist: it’s supposed to be real and director Josh Trank and his young cast add just enough oomph to make it seem so. This is a pretty good film and deserves a look. I would suggest seeing Chronicle in the theater for it needs the big screen for the full impact.

Rating 3.5 out of 5.