I finally had the chance to go see Chronicle last night and am happy I did. I heard two things before going to see this movie: that it was terrible and that it was an American version of Akira. One of these things was wrong and the other was only partially right.

Whoever said that the movie was terrible was wrong. But really to each his own. I personally thought the overall idea of the movie was a great one, especially the fact that it was being filmed by people in the movie rather than seeing it as an outsider. The characters were real and relatable, just your average high school students. Unless you count the whole telekinetic thing.

That’s where Akira comes in. If you’re a fan of the movie don’t go in expecting it to be 100% the same. The only real similarities between the two movies is the fact that these kids have telekinetic powers and the entire ending scene.

So what exactly am I babbling on about?

Chronicle tells the story of three high school boys, Matthew, Andrew, and Steve, who decide to explore a tunnel in the ground behind an abandoned warehouse. There they find what looks like a giant glowing rock wall (but really is probably some weird alien spore thing… we never find out what it really is). Within the next few days they begin to realize they can more things with their minds and fly.

But when one of them almost kills another person, they set rules in place. But rules were made to be broken, and Andrew’s troubled life at home leads the three boys into more trouble than they bargained for.

Now it might be because I’ve always been intrigued by telekinesis that made me like the movie so much, but I really think it was because of the overall story line, characters, and special effects. I thought the entire movie was very well done, and I think they only way someone could not like it is if they were expecting something more. The movie is simple, but done in a way that keeps you wondering what’s going to happen. The one thing I can agree on is that it could’ve probably been cut down a little. The movie only runs about an hour and a half, but taking out a few minutes of telekinetic examples wouldn’t have done any harm to the overall picture, either.

Grade: A