MovieChat Forums > Chronicle (2012) Discussion > Why didn't they use their powers to get ...

Why didn't they use their powers to get rich?

posted 12 years ago by Viltrumite
47 replies | jump to latest

If I got powers like these kids, one of the first thing I'd do is get hold of some money, at the very least enough to buy a property outright, even if only for no other reason than the power might not be permanent, so I might as well put them to a good use while I can.

Andrew was clearly unhappy in his parents' house, so you'd think this would have occurred to him at least. Okay, maybe he wanted to be close to his mother, but he could have at least attained some cash to get her decent medical care. He waited until she was practically at death's door to do anything about it. Hell, look at that movie, Jumper. A kid with powers uses them to escape his abusive father and have an awesome time. The protagonist in that movie had the right idea, even if he was extremely sloppy. It seemed to me that the three lads in Chronicle weren't thinking about the future.

"Why do you say this to me when you know I will kill you for it?"

[–] moviemasochism 10 years ago

You're basically asking why any fictional character with superpowers doesn't immediately become a super villain. There are a ton of movies and comics about the exact people you're asking about. Usually, they're the ones the hero is trying to stop from carrying out those crimes.

[–] Viltrumite 9 years ago

You're basically asking why any fictional character with superpowers doesn't immediately become a super villain. There are a ton of movies and comics about the exact people you're asking about. Usually, they're the ones the hero is trying to stop from carrying out those crimes.

I never said anything about becoming a villain. At least not a proper, nasty villain. Just about using their powers to improve their situations.

[–] moviemasochism 9 years ago

Okay, maybe I'm misunderstanding you. But you said this:

Okay, maybe he wanted to be close to his mother, but he could have at least attained some cash to get her decent medical care. He waited until she was practically at death's door to do anything about it.

...which, just going by the movie, "do anything about it" was robbing a gas station. That is villainous behavior. So no, while you didn't explicitly use the word "villain", you're at the very minimum describing an antihero which some could argue he was.

For comparison, Mr. Freeze has a similar backstory where his wife was terminally ill and Freeze turns to crime to raise the money to save her. Mr. Freeze is considered a villain.

On the other hand, Spider-Man initially does use his new-found powers for personal financial gain (in the most basic legal way a young teenager might try.) It wasn't until his uncle dies that he realizes that his powers should be used to help people and not "improve his situation". Spider-Man is considered a hero.

[–] Viltrumite 9 years ago

If we were reading about "The Adventures of Mr Freeze", he'd be the protagonist, and Batman would be the villain, or at least the antagonist. It's Batman comics that get published, though, not Mr Freeze comics.

From a storytelling standpoint, Ben Parker had to die to teach Peter a lesson. If you make allowances for the existence of superhuman abilities, real life doesn't work that way. If Spider-Man existed, he'd either be on some lab examination table with scientists trying to reverse engineer his powers, or a huge celebrity.

I wouldn't call Andrew's behaviour villainous so much as not well thought out.