Replacing tights and capes with jeans and hoodies

"If you could have any super power, what would it be?" That's a question we have all been asked at some point in our lives. With a host of possibilities, including invisibility, super strength and the ability to fly, it's difficult to limit yourself to just one or to keep your answer the same over the years. Nonetheless, having any kind of new power granted to you would feel like a dream finally fulfilled. We all remember what Uncle Ben told his nephew, Peter Parker: "With great power, comes great responsibility." While that couldn't be truer, there's another side to that: With great power, can come the thirst for more power.

We're used to watching movies about ordinary people acquiring super powers; but in director Josh Trank's superhero film, Chronicle, he brings a level of authenticity to this proverbial story. The enhanced sense of realism offered by using the found-footage technique allows the film to answer the question, "What would you do if you had a super power?" to a higher degree than the more traditional entries in the superhero genre.

Andrew (Dan DeHaan) is an outcast at his high school. He barely has any friends and is constantly picked-on. At home, it's not much better. Andrew's father is a violent drunk and his mother is dying from cancer. One night, while reluctantly attending a party with his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), the two of them and the school's popular quarterback Steve (Michael B. Jordan) discover a hole in the ground. As they travel down below to see where the path leads to, they find a giant, glowing, crystalline mass of mysterious origins, and are suddenly exposed to its energy. The next day, the trio realizes that after being in contact with the strange object, they have obtained superhuman abilities. The three agree to keep their powers under control; but after suffering for so long, Andrew has his own malevolent plans for how to use them.

Dane DeHaan already has experience from playing a troubled teen in the second season of HBO's drama In Treatment, so he has an impressive ability to channel adolescent anger. He is hauntingly malicious as a teenager who has been victimized for too long, but then makes a shift into villainy that he can't resist. He is constantly the focal point of the high school bullies, and is continuously being physically abused by his alcoholic father. What's compelling about DeHaan's character is that he's never able to stand up for himself; and now, when he finally has the power to do that, his friends tell him they have to keep their super abilities under control. You can sense the boiling-over of his craving to take vengeance on his tormenters. He eventually defines himself as the apex predator as he uses his powers to crush a car from a few yards behind him. It's hard to decide whether to root for Andrew as he gets back at his oppressors, or to worry about what he has become. He is a superhero gone awry.

Alex Russell, as Andrew's philosophical cousin Matt, is the one who tries to keep Andrew on an understandably short leash. Matt is one of Andrew's only friends, and always looks out for him, from the beginning of the film where he tries to help Andrew make friends, to when they have their powers and Matt has to control Andrew's increasing lust for power. Matt is careful in thinking what consequences an abuse of their powers might hold, whereas Andrew is more reckless, taking any chance he can to prove that he is the dominant of the three.

Michael B. Jordan, as Steve, is the outgoing and well-liked high school football player that reaches out to Andrew in his time of need in the first 15 minutes of the film. He's a bit of a loose cannon, but is still sensible with the use of his powers. Michael Kelly is fear-inducing as Andrew's vicious father.

Many superhero films tend to take place in crime-ridden cities. Although Chronicle is set in a suburb for most of the movie, there are details to suggest that troublesome activity happens in the area, such as graffiti on public property, trash strewn across lawns and a group of drug dealers. On top of that, the way Andrew's home is designed isn't entirely welcoming, hinting that his neighborhood could be in the lower-middle class. This suburb looks like it could benefit from a superhero guardian.

With the use of the found-footage style of filming, the camera is able to follow Andrew, Matt and Steve even when they rocket through the clouds. Since they all have the power to control objects, it makes this possible. One of the best scenes shows the trio as they take to the sky and toss around a football. What happens a moment later, you'll have to see for yourself.

The screenplay, by Max Landis, isn't so much a film about heroes vs. villains, but is more of a cautionary tale. It concerns the three teenagers as they learn how to come to terms with their extraordinary gifts. One of Chronicle's strengths is its darker-than-expected nature, with the shocking fates of some of the characters and the ways in which Andrew exacts his revenge on others. The storyline of Andrew, Matt and Steve receiving their powers is cleverly placed in a high school backdrop. There, it serves as an appropriate metaphor for them going through significant changes in their lives, in respect to them getting ready to graduate, while at the same time, becoming different as they go from humans to super-humans. The only part of the story that wasn't needed was the subplot involving Matt and his new girlfriend, Casey (Ashley Hinshaw). The subplot itself wasn't bad, but it wasn't necessary.

Director Josh Trank is a young up-and-comer, and Chronicle acts an exceptional project to springboard his talent. He builds the film around the emotions of Andrew, showing us the effects of his maliciousness as it consumes him. Trank steadily leads the film into higher stakes as Andrew becomes more violent and unpredictable, and the director carefully develops his character. It all ends in an intense, friend vs. friend smack-down through the city of Seattle that has the main characters crashing through high-rising buildings and crowded streets. Josh Trank stages all of this with soaring thrills. Chronicle takes a new approach to the superhero genre, and therefore, doesn't make the found-footage technique tiresome. Now that's super.

Final grade: A-