I Am Number Four is about, essentially, a boy (Alex Pettyfer) from another planet that is sent to earth as a precaution. He is number four of nine people left over from his home planet, and being one of those nine, he has special abilities or powers. If that wasn't enough, he is being hunted down by an enemy clan that wiped out most of their people. So now he has to lay low on earth among everyone else and try to live his life as normally as possible. Little does he know who he'll meet and how they'll change his life forever.
Dramatic enough for you?
Side note: I swear, sometimes I feel just ridiculous summarizing some of these movies.
Anyways, to start, let me just point out that this film is based on the novel by the same name. The wonderful thing about this is that the film is open ended, and as I predict, so is the book. It leaves you expecting continuation because the story is really incomplete. However, there are no sequels written in book form and lord knows how long it takes for those to come out. So my concern is, by the time the second book is written, and the second film is created, how relevant will the story be to our generation? How dedicated will the fans be, to still anticipate it? And how old will the actors look by that time? And for argument sake, let's say that they decide to make the second film without a book to follow. How pathetic will the attempt be? How smooth will the transition in thought, imagination and writing seem? These are just a few concerns for the future of the soon to be franchise.
But enough about these observations. Let's get back to the movie shall we?
I like the idea of the story. It's enticing in a way. I mean, where can you go wrong with a hot male lead, a romantic interest, supernatural power and strength, action and adventure? Well, apparently in several places.
The thing that bothered me the most was the weak romantic element. Pettyfer's character pretty much obsesses over Agron's character immediately, but their wasn't enough pull for it to be convincing. The lines were extremely predictable and cheesy, to the point where I had the urge to laugh. That's definitely not a good thing. I'm somewhat of a sap, so it doesn't take much usually. But they just didn't reach me with that romantic relationship. Ironically, they are dating in real life: a nice tidbit for you guys. With some better writing maybe they could have pulled it off. As for the action, it definitely overcompensated for the romance. But for me, it was also what saved the film. I really enjoyed the battle scenes and the bad ass Number Six played by Teresa Palmer. I also loved the soundtrack, the way they applied it to the scenes and used the popular music of right now.
Overall the acting was decent. Nothing was horrible, but there were weak parts here and there.
The entire time watching, I felt as though there was some vital information being left out. Like, details in the book they didn't find time to include. There were a lot of things not explained properly, and explanation is necessary, especially if is this is considered sci-fi. Just look at The Matrix. Just imagine where that movie would be without the detail of explanation. If they fixed the romance and the detail, I would have been one happy gal.
A few shout outs, to the evil guys and their makeup artists- good job (thumbs up). And I'd like to thank the adorable beagle dog in the film for making it a little bit more enjoyable. Here's to his adorable self!
Finally, I say, see this film for some action, some adventure, some good times, some inner laughs. Just don't hold your breath for the second installment. I give this film 6/10.
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