Although Director Josh Trank has a bad reputation for his work on the newest Fantastic Four movie, a lot of people seem to look over the fact that Trank made an incredible indie teen superhero movie that landed him the job for the reboot.

Chronicle (2012) brings a new and exciting take on the superhero genre we’ve become accustomed to over the past few years. The movie follows the story of three high schoolers: Andrew, Matt and Steve. They all come from different backgrounds, and one night at a party they all end up checking out this hole in the ground. While checking out the hole the kids end up forming powers and bonds with each other as well.

The thing I really like about Chronicle is that it’s a found footage film, however it’s not one of those found footage films done wrong like the Blair Witch remake that came out last year, but instead uses the found footage aspect to help aid the story of the movie.

The main character we follow is really Dane Dehaan’s character, Andrew Detmer. His character gets the most attention in the story and Dehaan really brings it in the role as he plays an outcast teen who is abused by his dad at home while struggling to take care of his ailing mom. His only friend is his cousin Matt Garettey played by Alex Russell. The other friend to close out their super trio is the ever so popular Steve Montgomery played by Michael B Jordan. The reason I think Chronicle succeeds so much in my mind is that all of the three main characters are all so diverse and different so it makes it easier for the audience to connect to at least one of the characters and they all have really good chemistry. Many of the moments when they are all on screen together it is pure cinematic magic.

Although Chronicle was made on a shoestring budget, it does have really awesome special effects. I wouldn’t say they are revolutionary in any sense but they do make the movie feel grounded whenever they are used because they are done in the right manner.

This film combines great chemistry from its lead characters and an interesting story that begs big questions and answers them all completely in a short run time. Chronicle kept my eyes glued to the screen as it gave me a great departure from the normal run of the mill superhero movies.