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1 comments
2 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 8/4/2012
Chronicle's the American Akira, but the original is always better.
on 11/5/2012
Just watched Chronicle, believing it would just be an Americanized version of Akira with angsty teenagers and annoying found-footage. Akira is probably my favourite animated film of all time, so that was always going to be a really tough target to match. Chronicle has its moments of silliness, mostly regarding the use of cameras in the film, and the first act particularly can be pretty annoying. The quality of the film modulates up and down, sometimes annoyingly angsty and even a little bit cheesy at times. But the film also has its moments of brilliance, which is no exaggeration. I don't think I have been this entertained by a new film since I watched District 9 in the Cinema. Wow, just wow! What’s more, while there is plenty of teenage angst which usually irritates me in films, the film manages to handle it expertly in terms of letting the audience see both sides of the argument (at first I felt that the awkward kid walking around with the camera was just asking to be picked on, but the fact that he carries the camera around give insight into his problems at home, which really works wonders for plot and character development). Then again, I felt the same way watching Akira for the first time. That said, Akira still wins this matchup, not only for pioneering the story (victimized, vulnerable teenager gains telekinetic superpowers by accident and rages out of control), but also for managing to set it against a spectacular, gritty sci-fi backdrop, with a lot of symbolism and socio-political commentary at the same time. Chronicle doesn't have the luxury of length or context to put symbolism or commentary into it (beyond the obvious "abuse of power" message), but it doesn't need to; it works fine on its own merits. I suppose you could say that Chronicle is basically "Akira meets Cloverfield", which is no bad thing in my opinion (even though both are much better than Cloverfield, and I would argue that Chronicle is the standard of hand-held/found-footage Sci-Fi film which Cloverfield COULD have been). When it comes down to it, both are two of the best films I have watched in the last two years, and while I would happily watch either on any given day, I still prefer Akira for its style, more memorable characters, pioneering spirit and consistency. Akira wins.
on 4/1/2014
Two similar movies , i prefer Akira though
Not impressed by Akira, going with Chronicle.
