‘Chronicle’ fun, thrilling, supernatural

For lovers of found footage films like "Cloverfield" and "Quarantine," "Chronicle" is a fascinating story of a group of teenage boys who chance upon telekinetic powers.

The film plays out as a record of Andrew Detmer's (Dane DeHaan) life beginning the moment he decided to chronicle his every breath on video.

His father is an abusive drunk and his mother is dangerously ill, relying on scraps and insurance money to pay for her in-home medical care. Already, you feel bad for Andrew who hides behind the awkwardness of his camera, filming anyone and everything he encounters on a daily basis.

Andrew's cousin Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) proves to be one of his only friends, taking him to school every day and to parties in hopes of helping him socialize. At a party, the two boys run into an acquaintance, Steven Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), the group then stumbles away from the dancing crowd to find a hole in the earth leading them to a cave of wonder. There they find the undiscovered thingamajig that gives them super powers, and that's all you pretty much ever find out about it. I like the mystery behind that. It doesn't give too much away or waste time on details that don't have any effect on the focus of the movie.

The real center of the film is Andrew's social detachment and hardships at home. The typical high school outcast story is a little played out and Andrew seems a little too good looking of a guy to not have any other friends at all, but this is a ‘tell' to his true inner workings. At one point Steven tries to explain to him that his camera creates a social barrier between him and everyone else, but Andrew doesn't seem to mind the isolation. This is indicative of the adversities the group faces as they learn to deal with sublime power.

I'll go ahead and admit I wanted to see this film because I have a fascination with telekinesis, but then again, who wouldn't be uber jealous of the power to move things with your mind. Immediately after watching the film, my mind raced with ideas of things I would do with the power, and if I would use my powers for good or for awesome. It's hard to tell, but I know I'd definitely enjoy flying as much as the characters in the film did. The trio soared through clouds, made plans to travel the world and take full advantage of their inexplicable capabilities.

It truly was a joy to watch them exercise their brain power and witness it all through creative camera angles. The brilliant use of Andrew's powers to free-float the video camera gave "Chronicle" more depth than other found-footage films.

The swooping, areal pans over each landscape they explore make for a 360-degree view of their supernatural experiments.

Overall, "Chronicle" is fun to watch, makes good use of the viewers' imagination and touches on current social trends and behaviors. For the most part, the special effects are just the right amount of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and don't take away from the dialogue or muddy the plot. This film should be on every sci-fi thriller and action movie lover's watch list for its unique modern-day twist on a superhero story.