I'm thinking this page may need a Shout-Out entry, or even Spiritual Licensee entry in the YMMV section. The whole movie has this vague sense of being inspired by Akira. Especially on the original script's version of a certain death. The last third of the movie just screams Akira to me. Thoughts?
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I think... I think you're right. Now that I think about it, there are some erie similarities.
I also agree. I actually noticed a few anime pictures and drawings in Andrew's room as well, it'd be pretty interesting if one of them was actually a poster for Akira, or a drawing of one of the characters (I wasn't exactly paying enough attention to see any details though, and as you said, the similarities don't actually come in until late into the movie anyway).
This troper got a lot of Neon Genesis Evangelion and inFAMOUS vibes from the movie. Andrew = Shinji and Downer Ending Cole, his dad = Gendo, Steve = Toji and early-game Zeke, Matt = ... all the normal, sane people.
I disagree. I see it as a darker, grittier reboot of Scott Baio's Zapped! Tell me I'm wrong.
Remember good artists borrow and great artists steal. It will be interesting to see what happens in the sequel.
I have never seen Akira :( but a girl I work with, a self-described anime geek, has and, upon seeing Chronicle, found the similarities uncanny. I wouldn't be surprised if the writers were anime geeks too and this was something of a deliberate homage.
Several famous members of the gaming and anime community, including Little Kuriboh, the guy that invented The Abridged Series, have an Internet radio show called Wha-Chow. In the most recent episode, they discussed the similarities and jokingly said that anyone that planned on making a live-action Akira movie should drop those plans because Chronicle beat them to it.
He outright said on Reddit he said the hospital gown he was wearing was as an homage to Akira. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/pdj0g/im_max_landis_writer_of_chronicle_and_director_of/
I'm putting it under Shout Out.
I haven't seen or even heard of Akira, but this movie definitely is close to Carrie the novel and the movie.
One of the serious problems in planning the fight against American doctrine, is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they fe
Wait, if this movie has an uncanny reassemble to AKIRA then why it is considered a Genre Busting movie if there is already one similar and much older?
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Is it just me or did the effects when they moved certain objects come off as Conspicuous CG?
The baseball and juggling balls are ones that really stick out in my head. I expected that to be one of the first things added but it's not on the trope page at all. So am I just seeing things or is it so obvious that no one feels it should be added?
EDIT: Whoops I meant Special Effect Failure instead of Conspicuous CG xP
Edited by Alterdeus Hide / Show Replies
Is it just me or did the juggling balls reflect light incorrectly? And the baseball was a bit jarring, it looks like the didn't even employ bump mapping on it.
You mean the way the baseball was vibrating when it was caught? I thought that made a lot of sense - the boys have all just recently discovered/acquired their powers, and consequently are still psionically weak. Didn't the guy who caught it start bleeding from the nose soon after? His mental muscles were still weak, and therefore cancelling out all of that ball's inertia would have been enough of a chore, not to mention continuing to hold it up.
I actually mean that it looked like Obvious CG when they did it. It really took me out of the movie when those two parts came up. Usually I don't notice stuff like that so I wasn't sure if it was just me or not.
I have heard the term "Battle of Seattle" bounced around in reference to the climax. YMMV, but in my opinion, that sounds silly. This movie is anything but silly. I move for a push to get the term, "Seattle Incident," or something similar, brought into general use.
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Werewolfin
I was wondering if there was something we could add about the high-pitched sound effects that happened whenever the boys (specifically, Andrew) used their powers? It's made clear that no one but the boys (and any recording devices) were able to hear it.
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anklebiter
When Andrew's Dad goes to search his room, I didn't get the impression that he was searching specifically for booze money, just for ANYTHING to accuse Andrew of. He had previously told Andrew that he suspected he was hiding something, partially because Andrew was 'too' happy and partially because Matt wasn't coming to pick him up for school anymore. He was angry because he felt Andrew was sneaking around and also because he wasn't as successful in making Andrew miserable (thus making himself feel like he was at least in control of SOMETHING) as he had been previously.
How many times have you been knocked out, anyway? I swear, one of these times, you're gonna wake up in a coma. - Cordelia Chase Hide / Show Replies
I concur. While Richard did have money troubles, he wouldn't need to go behind his son's back to get it. The supreme lord Jerkass would have just threatened it out of him. The vibe I got off the scene was a father searching his son's room for drugs. It might be his only on-screen instance of responsible parenting.
Edited by EugenePickett
Unless of course he was searching for drugs to use them for himself. The guy wasn't a responsible parent by any stretch of the imagination. Whatever the reason was for him searching Andrew's room, it ended with him finding the camera and using it as an excuse to blame Andrew for the family's problems.
Edited by Kajin
Why was andrew more powerful? It was never really explained well. Was it his camera, somehow funneling the energy or whatever from the prism?
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I assumed it was because Andrew was always telekinetically carrying the camera or some other object at any given time, while the others hadn't had as much practice. Granted, it doesn't explain why Andrew started off more powerful (in the ball test et al.,) but it's something.
Why not? I suppose it just happened. People are stronger than others, and I suppose this could also count as part of a Super Power Lottery.
I think Andrew just had a better potential or natural ability for use of the power the same way someone is good at math or an artistic pursuits.
Edited by HunterRose
Yeah, some people are just better at things than others. Some people make good jocks, some people make good artists, and some people are good at picking up buses with their mind and tossing them the length of a football field.
Recently, there was a gap of a couple weeks between gaining their powers and filming their progress. Andrew was probably the most comfortable with the change and the least likely to freak out. The poster child for I Just Want to Be Special while the others were still adjusting.
Edited by SilverWings
Andrew ended up more powerful because of his constant practice, yes, but I don't think Steve was much of a slouch either. He's the one who figured out how to fly, and the only time he's ever struggling is when a plane nearly hits him in midair. Matt's the only one who is shown as consistently behind.
Though I did just recall their conversation where Steve mentions Andrew has more "finesse". That's definitely a result of playing with the camera constantly; he, unlike Steve, has learned how to be more articulate and less clumsy because he's been actively exercising that skill by practicing on the camera. It's like working on your handwriting to make it clearer.
This is presented as something of a homage to the "start of darkness" that kids like the Columbine shooters go through. The thing of it is, the Columbine shooters DIDN'T get their "start of darkness" by being bullied. They weren't just social outcasts and bully victims, they both had severe mental problems that were being treated with powerful pharmaceuticals. More specifically one of them went OFF his meds some time before the shooting... which had a "backlash" causing the side effects of the medication (megalomania, etc) to get WORSE. Yes, bullied loner kids can go off the rails, but it is my observation and personal experience that kids of privilege—- popular, good looking, pampered by wealthy families, self-esteem carefully groomed, and total strangers to hardship or alienation—- go off the rails just as much or even WORSE when they get a taste of power. Personally it makes my feelings about the cleft-chinned hollywood-handsome popular jock being the noble hero of the story somewhat ambiguous.
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Steve probably would've been even more heroic, but, you know.... So Matt was the only one left. Although you do have a point...
I think we should mention that this is every found footage movie meets every video ever made that was recorded from a camcorder meets Earth Bound. I tried to edit the page to my computer editing a page is a time paradox, for some strange reason.