I Am Number Four Reviews

"My entire childhood has been an episode of X-Files. You know what it's like to feel something so strong, and everyday you keep telling yourself your Dad's gonna come back and take you away from this shithole? And that everything that we believed in was true, and that we're not crazy. Please."

With the Twilight franchise scheduled to end in 2012, Hollywood is understandably scrambling to find a new cash-cow series to win the hearts and wallets of the sparkly vampire lovers. Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Pittacus Lore (a pseudonym for James Frey and Jobie Hughes), I Am Number Four reeks of Hollywood studio mentality in the way it dishes up all the customary ingredients for a modern teen movie. Ticking all the boxes, the film comes packaged with male models trying to act, a tepid romantic yarn between two teenagers who cannot consummate due to antagonistic interference, a heavy smattering of high school drama, and a fantasy angle that appears to have been assembled from the spare parts bin. Helmed by D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye), I Am Number Four has big aspirations but little gumption or skill to fulfil them.

One of nine beings who were saved from genocide on the distant planet of Lorien, Number Four (Pettyfer) has travelled to Earth under the care of protector Henri (Olyphant) to hide from the vicious Mogadorians. With the Mogadorians killing off the Lorien survivors in chronological order for no apparent reason, the pair are constantly on the move. Number Three's eventual death puts Henri in a heightened state of paranoia, compelling him to move Four to the small town of Paradise, Ohio where he assumes the identity of John Smith. As with any movie of this sort, John is enchanted with fellow teenager Sarah (Agron) who's kind-hearted and has an interest in photography. Also, predictably, John befriends nerdy outcast Sam (McAuliffe) and has a few tiffs with Sarah's jealous ex-boyfriend (Abel). Unfortunately for John, though, his special abilities begin to emerge which he struggles to control, and the Mogadorians are drawing close.

I Am Number Four essentially plays out like a big-screen version of Smallville that was re-jigged for the Twilight crowd. And on that note, it feels more like a pilot to a television series than the big-budget beginning of a feature film franchise. The first hour of I Am Number Four is notably awful - the mythology is generic, the names given to the aliens and their technology are laughably goofy, the Mogadorians are over-the-top (looking like a strange cross between the vampires from 30 Days of Night and the Romulans from Star Trek), several loose threads are haphazardly incorporated to set up the franchise, and the insipid high school drama is trite to the point of being sheer torture. Why does Number Four feel the need to attend high school, anyway? Why can't he just skip school like John Connor and be a badass rather than a generic clothing store mannequin? Whenever a high school drama is introduced in this day and age, one can only think Twilight. Heck, for further similarity, Number Four even develops a crush on a girl he can't get out of his head. And, for best effect, the soundtrack of popular music plays out as if the director chose tracks by putting his iPod on shuffle.

At the very least, I Am Number Four improves in its final half-hour or so, when it finally shuts up and gets down to the business of being a Michael Bay-produced action flick rather than a corny, melodramatic teen romance. At this point the movie rouses to life, delivering some pulse-pounding action set-pieces and surprisingly decent special effects. There's high-tech gadgetry, telekinetic battles, cars being hurtled, a few badass giant monster battles, space daggers, incredibly cool laser guns, and fireballs. Hey, even the hot Australian actress Teresa Palmer was thrown in for good measure! The craftsmanship during this period is surprisingly decent as well, with director Caruso disposing of his Michael Bay-esque routine of shaky-cam and rapid-fire cutting (seen in Eagle Eye) in favour of a smoother, more refined cinematic style. It's unfortunate, then, that I Am Number Four is weighed down by the hackneyed routine of high school drama which we must endure before getting to the money shots and engaging set-pieces.

The selection of actors were clearly chosen on the basis of looks rather than acting believability. In the role of John Smith/Number Four, Alex Pettyfer displays no charisma, no vulnerability and no screen presence, and there is no detectable emotion or warmth to anything he does. Watching the guy on-screen is like flipping through a clothing store catalogue. The girls will have their eye candy, sure, but Pettyfer needs to attend acting school pronto if he wants more work in the industry. Meanwhile, Dianna Agron cut her acting teeth on the TV show Glee, which should be an indicator of her "talent"... Timothy Olyphant, on the other hand, is one of the only veterans, and he's effortlessly cool as Henri. Olyphant disperses a number of good lines on top of being downright awesome. And in the role of Number Six, Teresa Palmer is somewhat decent as well as being amazingly, unbelievably hot, especially when she's allowed to let loose and kick ass. It's a shame, then, that Palmer's screen-time is so limited.

With attractive adolescents and their high school lives taking centre stage within the narrative, I Am Number Four aims to appeal to teenagers and satiate the Twilight crowd. It does not hold much appeal beyond the superficial, though, with the aliens feeling underdeveloped and with a distinct lack of action or anything remotely engaging until the final act. This is not a good film, but at the very least it's not entirely unwatchable despite the bland dramatic elements.

4.5/10

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Get ready for 8 more sequals. No I am kidding, I hope not, well if they do I hope the story actually develops. It was one of those movies where the story is there but it never really comes into play very well. They left some things unsaid that were actually really important, some of it didn't even make sense. I was more interested in the love story because the chemistry was actually good. The action was actually good and made me actually not turn off the movie. The acting, well other than the great Timothy Olyphant and the Glee kid Dianna Agron the acting wasn't special at all. Dianna Agron was really good, I wouldnt think she could do an action film, she really impressed me. Timothy Olyphant is always great, he never dissapoints. This movie had it all there, but it never really came all together. The love story stayed intact, some how, but I just wished the story stayed together. For example, SPOILER they only told us one thing about the dog and didnt explain why it turned into a giant dog. SPOILER, they also didn't explain why when they die they turn into dust. It also felt like that Number 6 wasn't needed at all. They could have done this so much better.

I really liked this movie, was definately better than I expected it too be. Wish we could of seen more of Teresa Palmer, that's just a personal preference...lol. Overall the story was good. I didn't leave yuou asking any questions, well there was one. "I wonder if there's a sequel coming" Because they definately leave it open for at least one sequel if not two or three. Sefinately worth renting and watching

Kind of boring....., though the fight scenes were done surprisingly well. Never thought they would be so good with the rest of the moving being mediocre.

I thoght that it would be worst, but I was totally wrong. The best part is the end, moreover number 6 as Teresa Palmer, I want more from this character, too much fierce. On the other hand Dianna Agron is so bored in her character, really monotone. Alex Pettyfer does a good job.

This movie isn't necessarily bad but it's not that good either. The performances were very unconvincing the only decent performance was from Timothy Olyphant. The plot borrows from many other films like Jumper(2008), and a little bit from Push(2009). It's like Jumper in a sense that there are only a certain amount of people like his kind and he's constantly being chased by a group of people who want to kill every last one of his kind. Though there are some differences these two movies are very similar and also the powers John or "number 4" whatever you want to call him remind of the powers in Push, the "pushers" are able to do practically the same thing as he is able to. I am number four does feature some nice special effects and I did like the whole going to school trying to blend in with the environment sort of thing. This movie probably would have been better if Michael Bay didn't produce it but for what it is I am number Four is a mildly entertaining film and even though it borrows the other films plots it is a lot better than Jumper but not as good as Push, and Push wasn't even that great of a movie either. I am interested to see when the other films are going to go hopefully Michael Bay won't produce them.

To Read My Review of "I Am Number Four" - awesomebarnhart.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/i-am-number-four-2011/