Stephen Spielberg and Michael Bay must have pumped adrenaline because “I Am Number Four” comes in at number two this week. This rocking-action and teenage-drama flick takes sci-fi fans by complete surprise.
Based on the novel written by Pittacus Lore — the pen name for writing duo James Frey and Jobie Hughes — published August 2010 the film follows Number Four a teenage alien on the run from a group of bad guy alien assassins hell-bent on destroying all nine of these super-powered teenage refugees.
Number Four or John Smith (played by Alex Pettyfer) has been on the run for years. Protected by his alien guard Henri they move from place to place ensuring that they stay under the radar. And they do for the most part until they learn of Number Three’s death.
In his new life in a new town John tries to experience life as a human teenager. Cue dumb jocks antagonized UFO geek and pretty girl. John falls for Sarah Hart played by Dianna Agron — better known as Quinn from Glee — and their relationship becomes a threat both to John’s safety and that of the Earth.
John’s powers develop he falls in love with Sarah and the bad-guy assassins manage to track him down because of some tip-offs from the Internet and threaten everything he has come to love. Enter Number Six a blonde spitfire who knows a thing or two about fighting these ridiculous looking assassins.
There are four things that you should know about this movie if you’re still deciding whether or not to see it.
Number One: the actors.
The movie is carried by relatively unknown actors and actresses. This is Alex Pettyfer’s first American role. He’s British and although he is new to the Hollywood scene he does a pretty good job as the film’s lead. He still has some room to grow but he definitely knows how to connect to his emotions especially during the film’s sadder moments.
The rest of the cast is made up of up-and-comers. Dianna Argon is lovely. Her character brings a nice contrast to the film’s constant on-the-go atmosphere. Callan McAuliffe who plays Sam John’s confidant and friend does an amazing job at playing the bullied geek of the school. You just can’t help but want to be friends with his character and lend him a helping hand.
The acting in the film was surprisingly decent. There were some cheesy awkward moments but the action makes up for it.
Number Two: the special effects.
It should be a sign of great things to come when Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg work together on producing the movie. But if you go in thinking that you’ll most likely be disappointed when it comes to special effects. Remember Bay and Spielberg are only producers so special effects weren’t going in the direction of any of the “Transformers” films.
The special effects are pretty cool nonetheless. The superpowers of these alien fugitives were created well for the big screen especially with John’s awesome ability to create light from his hands. Number Six played by Teresa Palmer also had some cool special effects with her character. Her powers were probably the best effects of the film.
Number Three: predictability.
Unfortunately the only major flaw in the movie was the plot. It’s based on a book so it’s necessary to keep that in mind. Often though the movie was just too predictable.
The romance between Number Four and Sarah Hart and the high school drama with her ex-boyfriend was cheesy and expected. The story also lulls several times in the film. It didn’t happen often but it was awkward and made you glad you caught the matinee showing of the film. Thank goodness for the super-powered fight scenes.
Number Four: Teresa Palmer.
If you are considering not seeing the movie maybe you should reconsider just to see Number Six. Teresa Palmer an up-and-coming Australian actress plays alien fugitive Number Six who manages to track down Number Four and come to his rescue. She’s gorgeous and her character’s attitude is sassy and entertaining.
Out of the entire film Number Six has the coolest fight scenes. Palmer is the scene-stealer of the movie. She rides a Ducati knows how to wield a sword and fights multiple alien assassins at once. Number Six is one fierce alien warrior.
Overall “I Am Number Four” was a pretty good movie aside from its shortcomings which were few. It’s a definite must-see in theaters because everything looks better on the big screen. Number Six’s fight scenes are that much more awesome in theaters and really it’s all about Number Six. And I can’t forget the adorable beagle as well; that dog was quite a scene-stealer.