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Alex Fettyfer has proven himself as quite an impressive young actor in the past few years by his performances in Beastly, In Time and I Am Number Four. It's just a shame that he doesn't appear in great films, or films that you can actually care about. This flick was neither good or bad but it was somewhat stylish and had an anti-superhero atmosphere to it which I liked. Even though I enjoyed the moody feel to it, it didn't have depth in the philosophy area nor in the character-development area. Not only do they give us questions with no answers, motives with no reasons, but also extremely cliche use(s) of superhuman powers. Once Daniel discovers his powers, he runs off into the woods. When push comes to a shove, he uses them against a group of jocks and saves his (possibly) blushing bride to be from a high fall. Hmm, now where have I seen this before? Oh, and he flips over a car, too. I haven't read any of the novels but what I saw I quite enjoyed, but not thoroughly. I mean, it was decently enough made, but doesn't have any impact-making ability neither it gives you enough reasons for revisits.
But despite this, I still think Alex Pettyfer should reprise his role should they make a franchise out of it, which I'm guessing might flop, as seeing how negatively it was received. But what the hey, it would be cool to see a fresh new face + a fresh new character rise and (possibly) replace Harry Potter and Edward Cullen as the new leading fantasy icon. I don't care about the rest of the cast, but if Alex reprises his role, then I'm definitely watching the next film - should there be one. He had in him a decent level of charm, a character, a likable presence, something both Daniel Radcliffe and Robert Pattinson sorely lacked. If he's there, then I'm there. If he's not, then well, end of story!
Performance-wise, Alex Pettyfer and Timothy Olyphant may win you over by their chemistry and performances. I enjoyed how they interacted with each other, felt smooth, subtle, not too grainy. Dianna Agron and Callan McAuliffe were unfortunately not in the same orbit as the above two. They were certainly charming in their different ways but not on the required level I'm afraid. Teresa Palmer was quite cool in her role as Number 6. I believe they should make a spin-off film based with her as the lead. Yes, by her I do mean Teresa Palmer, because she wa... oh, I've already said that. Is it me or did she resemble Roxy from the Scott Pilgrim film? Moving on, Kevin Durand was effectively haunting and spine-tinglingly chilly in his role as the Mogadorian Commander. Man, was it scary. The rest of the cast were OK enough, but easily forgettable.
In conclusion, I Am Number Four could've been a lot than what it is. It could've been philosophic and/or original. But instead it falls into the cliche pit of same old, same old. Think of this film as this way: a mature, serious version of Sky High. There, done!
6.5/10
