I Am Number Four (***)
Directed by: D.J. Caruso
Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna
Agron, Callan McAuliffe, Kevin Durand, Jake Abel
Seen: March 26th 2011
*** Out of ****
As far as originality goes, I Am Number Four breaks no new ground, but
it does take old and almost formulaic parts from the science fiction and action
arena and adds a certain flavour to it that is actually quite entertaining
while also managing to sidestep the most obvious clichés that has been seen in
this genre over the years. The production is good and the villains are bad, the
lead actors are eye-candy for all, and the story is involving enough to not let
you down if you are a fan of this type of movie. Director D.J. Caruso can aptly
create tension and he continues in the vein of a previous hit of his;
Disturbia. Now I have to admit in terms of presentation and style this is
closer to the Twilight movies and the TV-series Roswell than it is to cult
favourites like Charlie Sheen’s The Arrival or menacing aliens living and
moving among us movies like the Species series or the more recent Splice. At
times the movie does feel like a big studio production in that all the right
elements are there; good music, attractive stars, cool special effects, etc;
but with not quite enough heart to carry things along. That said, I Am Number Four
still has its merit and is quite entertaining.
The anonymously and inconspicuously named John Smith (Pettyfer) is not
human, he’s an alien from the planet Lorien, from where he and 8 others were
sent by the last of his race in a last bid for survival, as the invading
Mogadorians invaded Lorien and destroyed everything and everyone. The 9 have
special abilities, and they are to act as the saviours of their race, with the
Mogadorians hunting them down. They are hunted in sequence and numbers 1, 2,
and 3 have been found and eliminated. John is number Four, and together with
his Guardian Henri (Olyphant), they move to Paradise, Ohio in a bid for escape
and a newfound invisibility. John meets a few new people at school, including
the beautiful Sarah (Agron), the much-bullied Sam (McAuliffe), and the bullying
jock Mark (Abel).
Under their menacing Commander (Durand), the Mogadorians close in on
John while he starts to discover his abilities, with another character also
closing in on him, a mysterious and confident acting blonde girl, with amazing
abilities of her own. John and Henri fight to survive while conspiracy theorist
Sam is trying to expose John; while John is also busy falling for Sarah, the
young photographer with the jealous ex-boyfriend, Mark. The first half of the
movie is mainly setup and high school drama, while the second half picks up the
pace almost too much, with everything culminating in massive fights and
explosions and gunfights and general destruction.
I Am Number Four is by no means brilliant, but it is fun. The visual
effects are well-produced and shiny, and the acting is perfectly fine for a
movie like this, even though it isn’t brilliant. The movie even has a pay-off
line, and as far as these kind of things go, I believe it is a pretty good one:
“You have no idea what I’m capable of”. Bring on the sequel, I’ll be there for
it…
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