As I stated in my preview for this winter/spring’s nerdy movies, I didn’t know anything about Chronicle until I saw a commercial. Chronicle is about three high school students and the impact super powers make on their relationships and lives. What starts as a movie about super powered teens screwing around and pulling pranks turns into an examination of our own brokenness and its far-reaching impact. Below are some thoughts I had while watching Chronicle. I’ll do my best to keep things spoiler-free but I didn’t think they needed Wolverine in another movie about super powered teens.
Father Figure
Every time I hear, think or read the term “father figure” I can’t help but think about the George Michael song. Just another danger of growing up in the 80s. Apart from late 80s pop, the concept of a father figure is key to Chronicle. The first scene in the movie shows Andrew’s strained relationship with his alcoholic and abusive father. A lot of people have a negative father figure in their lives which makes it difficult to accept the Heavenly Father. God as our Father, though, loves us unconditionally and always wants what’s best for us. It’s best to have that kind of love and compassion in our earthly fathers. Our Heavenly Father is so amazing, though, that he can make up for a lack of love compassion in any of our relationships.
Authentic Relationships
Throughout the movie we see the negative effects of Andrew’s relationship with his father. Andrew is quiet, reclusive and disconnected, preferring to film his life and relationships instead of actually participating in them. Andrew is unwilling to engage in authentic relationships and that only deepens his profound brokenness. During the film, though, as Andrew begins to engage with his fellow super powered friends, we really do see a change in his demeanor. Authentic relationships are life giving and we should pursue them with intention and ferocity. Hopefully it doesn’t take the onset of super powers to push us towards authentic relationships. Super powers would be awesome but authentic relationships are more practical and more life giving.
Responsibility
Like other teenage super power movies the theme of responsibility is at the forefront. While there was no Uncle Ben in Chronicle, I could hear his voice saying, “with great power comes great responsibility”. The three guys in the film have to learn how to use their powers responsibly; they’ve been given a gift and it’s up to them to do something good with that gift. Jesus also reflects this idea in the parable of the talents. Jesus has given us all gifts and abilities and he wants us to be faithful with them, he wants us to use them responsibly. And, if we are faithful with what he gives us, then he’ll give us more. The goal of our lives should be to faithfully use what Jesus has given us, hoping that we’ll be counted worthy of being given more, so we can make a greater impact for God’s kingdom.
I really enjoyed Chronicle. It was more than just a teenaged super powers movie, but really showed our deep need for authentic relationships. It was a lot darker than I was expecting, but the darkness augmented the hope that can be found in relationships.
What did you think about Chronicle?
I liked this through to the last 20 minutes, when it all just went a bit crazy. As you point out above, the relationships – and characters – feel far more genuine than most similar movies.
Yeah. Relationships don’t really provide for a great climax in a sci-fi/action flick.