I Am Number Four
by Dante Rosario on February 20th, 2011
The Players: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron, Teresa Palmer, Callan McAuliffe, Kevin Durand, and Jake Abel.
The Game Plan: John (Alex Pettyfer) isn’t your ordinary teenager, he’s been on the run with his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant) trying to escape a group of enemies from his home planet, that are hunting down and killing all the others like him for most of his life. Having grown used to leaving everything behind, John moves to Paradise Ohio to take up yet another identity, but life is about to become much more difficult for John as he is forced to cope with new powerful abilities and the first real intimate connection he as ever felt with another person.
Dante’s Thoughts: I Am Number Four reminded me of the movie Jumper. A group of people with super powers is being hunted down by a group of assassins. The only real difference with the plot of this movie is that both groups are aliens from another planet. Substitute this fact in and you have a very good idea what this movie is about. Although the storyline is pretty straightforward it is enjoyable, John is gifted with amazing powers and abilities that he is trying to keep a secret from the girl he is falling for, because he wants a normal life.
As the story progressed I found myself wondering why there wasn’t more emphasis on who the aliens are, all the audience is ever told is there is a group of nine from another planet hiding out on earth from another a group of aliens that are trying to destroy them one by one. It was even more difficult to figure out what John’s powers are, in one scene we see him using telekinesis to move objects with out touching them, and in another we find him acting like a human defibrillator, and literally recharging someone like an energizer battery.
The acting in this film has its good moments and its bad moments. Most of the bad comes at the end when number four and six decide to engage in a competition to see which one of them can come up with the worst one-liner. Then there is the developing relationship between Alex Pettyfer and Dianna Agron’s characters that at times becomes the cinematic hallmark card for puppy love. Don’t get me wrong, I thought there were times when they complimented each other well, but those moments were always followed by melodrama. There are some laughs in this movie that are provided by Henri (Timothy Olyphant), and Sam (Callan McAuliffe) who both chime in with some funny little quips throughout the film.
Touchdowns: The action and the CGI in this film are very entertaining, and compliment the overall plot very well.
Penalties: There could have been more emphasis put on explaining where John and the other Numbers came from, instead of just picking up with him moving and being on the run. An explanation of John’s powers, or even just a few minutes at the beginning of the film to give some idea of who and where he comes from would have helped. The flag however, has to be thrown against the bad dialogue at the end, because those scenes gave a relatively enjoyable film a bad landing.
End Of Game Summary: Although I Am Number Four targets a teenage audience, if you’re still a kid at heart like me, and you like movies with super powered heroes, and good action scenes, then you will find some enjoyment in this film.
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