I was AMAZED at how much I disliked it...am I alone?

I am so glad to see this thread. Because I HATED HATED HATED this movie. I mean, it was ridiculous. Yet, Roger Ebert gave it 3 1/2 stars and it has a 7.1 on IMDb. I'm like, Wha??? Have I fallen into an alternate universe where bad is good, Like a Mirror, Darkly?

It got so few bad reviews, it's simply shocking. I think the filmmakers successfully included some kind of voodoo mojo to trick the audience or something. I was able to find one review that mostly summed it up for me, though: http://www.fatguysatthemovies.com/2012/02/fat-guy-5-five-reasons-why-c hronicle-sucks-ass/.

"5. The Whole Found Footage Thing Is Getting Old

I know it’s an economic boon for Hollywood to produce (or cheaply acquire) films shot on a shoestring budget rather than hundreds of millions of dollars. And yes, The Blair Witch Project, [REC] and the Paranormal Activity movies were neat. But the format has severe limitations. From each film starting with a rumbling camera and someone saying the equivalent of “Is we on?” or “I’m going to shoot everything” to the capturing of inane, improvised dialogue, this format only works as a novelty. And considering that Chronicle had to remind the audience every five minutes that it was recording, as well as making wild plot excuses to justify it, the getting-old format got even more old.

4. Terrible Visual Effects

The superhero movie has become the gold standard for visual effects. Unfortunately, the people who made Chronicle didn’t get that memo. The found footage format is supposed to make things look more real, and that works in films like (the beginning of) District 9. However, Chronicle was full of terrible and fuzzy green screen work, harnesses under coats, goofy CGI Pringles and juggling that looked worse than Naomi Watts’ vaudeville shtick in King Kong

3. Everyone in the Movie is an *beep*

From the clueless jock Steve to the bland Matt to the would-be psychopath in Andrew, every character in this movie was an *beep* And dealing with the burden of bullies at school and an abusive father doesn’t excuse any of this. Self-centered, narcissistic teenagers may be a common thing, but we don’t like to see movies about them.

2. Terrible Storytelling

For as much praise as Chronicle is getting for its “realistic” found footage presentation, the plot often makes no realistic sense. You have eighteen-year-old kids who don’t know the definition of “telekinesis” (which is as silly as them not knowing what a Tyrannosaurs rex is). There’s a smoking hot female blogger who (surprise, surprise!) also videotapes everything, stuck in the story for no other reason than to get reverse angles and pad the plot out. Let’s not get into the minutia of air pressure and the dangers of flying without an oxygen mask 20,000 feet in the air. Let’s talk about the floating camera at the funeral scene that not a damn person notices.

1. Wildly Unrealistic Characters

It’s not unrealistic to expect these characters to use their new-found powers for personal gain. It is unrealistic, however, for them to not once consider the pop culture ideas that come along with them. We were all teenage boys, and if we got telekinesis and the ability to fly, we’d at least mention Superman, or maybe The Force. We understand how the jock might not think of this, but the loner nerd who plays video games certainly would. These aren’t realistic eighteen-year-old boys. They’re poorly built, two-dimensional idiots that are out of place even in a comic book."

And I added the following comment:

I know I'm late, but just watched this on demand. To preface my thoughts, I originally wanted to see the film in the theaters but caught wind of lukewarm reviews and decided against it. Then my 15-year old daughter tried watching it as we flew overseas. She told me it wasn't good.

So I wasn't in a big hurry to say the least. But I did decide to catch it On Demand to satisfy my curiosity (as a sci-fi and x-men lover).

What my daughter didn't tell me is how God awful it was. As far as I am concerned, this is almost SyFy/Asylum bad. I was really surprised at how horrible and neverending this 80 minute film was. Even more shocking - the pretty good reviews among critics and fans alike. Maybe, just maybe watching it in the theater gave audiences a false sense of entertainment value. I dunno.

But I’d like to add two more reasons to your five.

6. The characters are idiots.

I’m sorry, but if I had telekinesis, I could come up with a number of successful, stealthy, and non-lethal ways to steal $50 (OR MORE) in order to save my mother’s life. And those ways would not involve at least a couple of hours wasted finding and putting on a stupid firefighter getup.

And…if I had the ability to fly and had previously used that ability quite often – the last thing I would ask my girlfriend during a major, major emergency situation, is for the keys to her car.

And I literally could barely take the fact that dozens of police officers on foot, in cars, and in the air, who are getting killed or maimed left and right, didn’t fire a single shot and kept approaching in waves like mindless video game minions. Over and over and over.

7. The acting is atrocious.

Sometimes badly written dialogue can still come across as believable in the hands of a talented actor. I mean, it happens all of the time. But this was literally like a daytime soap opera with Degrassi-high characters and a Super 8 setting. And the over the top dramatics were relentless, literally 80 minutes of BAD acting without any breaks. "OMG you're my BFF, bro, I love you man!"