Chronicle

I don't know if you remember a terrible movie from about a year ago. I hope not. It was called I Am Number Four, and it starred Alex Pettyfer as a teen/alien with sweet powers. It was one of the worst movies of 2011, and I felt pretty sure that Chronicle would be, oh, exactly the same.

It crushes me to admit when I am wrong, but there it is. Chronicle is at least as good as a better-than-average episode of The X-Files -- which, in my book, means that it's moderately well written and terrifically entertaining. Especially amazing considering that first-person footage (yuck!) plays a big part in the story, which is about high-schoolers (ach!).

Despite this double-whammy of lameness, Chronicle emerges as far better than the sum of its parts. This is mostly due to the complex, well-rounded characters of the kids involved and the unexpected changes that some of them undergo.

This one of those increasingly rare and happy cases of a director and writer who obviously collaborated to reach that sweet spot of entertainment and art, a movie that is both an exciting fantasy and a disturbing family drama.

The opportunities for metaphorical analysis are many, but I'll just stick with the facts.

Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a high schooler who videotapes his life as an escape from his bummer of a home life (an abusive, unemployed father, a mother dying from cancer) and a school situation that's not much better (bullies).

One night (always at night), Andrew and his cousin, Matt (Alex Russell) go to a party where they meet another kid, Steve (Michael B. Jordan, no joke!) who has just this minute found a mysterious and noisy hole in the ground. Armed with his video camera, Andrew and his buddies find a large glowing object in the hole. Their noses start to bleed.

Cut to several weeks later, Andrew, Matt, and Steve now have telekinetic powers, which they use to expected purpose: playing hilarious practical jokes, impressing the popular kids, flying.

But all is not magic tricks and hot chicks. The trio's newfound powers require rules, which Steve and Matt are happy to adopt. But given his miserable life, Andrew has tasted power for the first time in his life and is reluctant to give it up.

Things turn sour as the super BFFs become super frenemies. Hard choices have to be made, with tragic consequences in several cases. This isn't a movie with a happy ending, but it is one that could lend itself to a non-sucky franchise, almost as rare in this day and age as teenagers with superpowers.