I Am Number Four

In DJ Caruso's I Am Number Four, extremely pretty aliens hide away in plain sight from a warlike race that's been hunting them down one by one.  You'd think this would be a cause for concern, but you'd be wrong. There's still plenty of time to take care of the local high school bully and make kissy face with the cute social outcast chick. Give these people fangs and some overcast weather and it'd be Twilight all over again.

A movie like I Am Number Four aggravates me a lot more than most. I can handle a bad movie, but a bad movie with potential makes my blood boil. Based on the first book in a proposed six-novel series, Alex Pettyfer stars as John Smith, one of a nearly extinct alien race known as the Lorien. His home planet was destroyed by the Mogadorians, and now they've come to earth to finish the job. He and the few young Lorien's left have budding superpowers with which to defend themselves. They each wear charms that force the Mogadorians to kill them in very specific order. As Number Four on the death list, John travels with his guardian father-figure, Henri(Timothy Olyphant), who tries to keep John under the radar.  Unfortunately, John just cant keep himself out of the spotlight, popping up on YouTube videos and alerting everyone of their whereabouts.

Not a bad set up, honestly, but the film is weighed down by terrible high school cliche. John and Henri make their way to Paradise, OH, where John quickly falls in love with Sarah(Glee's Dianna Agron), a beautiful intelligent girl with some relationship luggage.  She used to date Mark, the school bully, and her blossoming relationship with John immediately causes a rivalry. >yawn< Oh, and then of course there's Sam, the nerdy kid John defends and becomes best friends with. If you guessed he'd get wrapped up in the whole alien invasion affair, then I might suspect you've seen a movie like this a time or two. The first 80% of this movie is a one great boring fiasco. There's no sense of urgency, no emotional investment in any of the relationships that are formed. Who cares about any of these folks? Only John's loyal dog, nick named Bernie Kosar, is worth giving a rat's butt about.

Then something magical happens from the moment Number Six (Teresa Palmer) makes her fiery entrance. A powerhouse Lorien with a wealth of destructive abilities and a killer swagger, her arrival is the kick start this film sorely needs. In a way it's like Number Six signals the end of the corny setup and a leap forward into what this franchise could be. A concerted focus on action and less high school angst plays more to the strengths of the film's lead actor. 

Alex Pettyfer is Hollywood's darling when it comes to adaptations of popular young adult novels. He's plenty handsome enough, I guess, in a totally generic sort of way. He can't act his way out of a wet paper bag, which might be why his initial foray, the disastrous Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker, died a rapid death. He's much more effective once the lasers start flying and people start glowing because it doesn't ask him to do much.  Teresa Palmer is excellent in her limited role, and I can see why so many people are raving about Dianna Agron. Timothy Olyphant does what he can with a thankless role. Hard for me to get used to him playing anybody's "dad" since I still remember him from 'Go' back in 1999, but he has the worried parent stare down pat.

The special effects are nothing to scream about. Developed on a relatively small $60M budget, you can see where some corners were cut, especially in the creation of the Mogadorians, who just look clownish with their prosthetic teeth. They could've taken a few special effects tips from Michael Bay, on board as a producer.  This is a few dozen notches below DJ Caruso's sterling 2007 film, Disturbia, and it remains to be seen whether or not we'll get to see more of the Lorien kids in action. The book series is written by Pittacus Lore, a pseudonym for writers Jobie Hughes and James Frey. Yes, the same disgraced James Frey from  the Oprah Winfrey Show. Only one novel has been completed so far, with the second due out in just a few months. Titled The Power of Six, let's hope it picks up with the same force as I Am Number Four leaves off with.