I watched I am Number Four on my Zune at the gym so there are definitely some finer details I've missed. That said, there probably weren't many fine details in this movie so that's not really a major concern of mine.
- A teenager and his single father are not who they appear to be. John is actually number four of nine alien teens living on Earth trying to escape the evil aliens hunting and killing them. Henri is his guardian. Together they live on the outskirts of society, moving when they being to attract unwanted attention. It's through one of these moves that they end up in Paradise, Ohio, and meet some interesting new friends, and enemies. They must combat both alien and human adversaries in order to insure John's, the town's, and the planet's safety.
Relative newcomer Alex Pettyfer plays John Smith (Number Four) opposite Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, Justified, Catch and Release, Hitman, Live Free or Die Hard, I love him so much) as Henri. Olyphant maintains his dry comedy in this role and is easily the best actor in this movie. I'm almost sad he's in it, except the movie doesn't suck as much as I thought it would. He's also an important member of the cast because he plays well opposite, and probably improves the performance of, Alex Pettyfer. Since Pettyfer is a former GAP model I am grading his performance on a curve. Fact: not everyone should act. Fact: not all models make good actors. Fact: not all actors make good actors. Fact: FACT is an acronym that stands for the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. Alex Pettyfer is not quite an actor yet, but I have hope for him. His performance is contrived at times, but as his first major role (save for some movie that I've never heard of, but has a pretty major cast) after entering acting I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he stays on this track as an actor then there is little hope for him (except audiences are fickle and will go to a movie just to watch a pretty face and/or abs
.
"I don't need acting skills if I show my abs. Trust me."
Diana Agron (Glee) is becoming one of my least favorite actresses. I don't know if she just has no personality or if she is a major pothead, but the way she speaks always makes her seem high. She's a pretty young woman, but she's one in a hundred; she's not all that rare is what I'm getting at, and since she brings nothing special in her performance she's easily replaced with someone who possesses personality. Finally Teresa Palmer (The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Take Me Home Tonight), who plays Number Six, is actually easily removed from the plot altogether so I feel no reason to say more about her.
The face of a stoner, no doubt about it.
I must finally mention the evil aliens, the Mogadorians (stupid name for an alien race). They look a lot like Romulans from Star Trek (2009) and, while they are almost convincing when speaking their alien language, they sound too much like normal people when speaking English to seem believable and scary. They could go anywhere they wanted to with the aliens, but they were pretty boring with the follow-through. This is unfortunate because a good antagonist always makes the movie better.
"Eric Bana is my hero." -Director
So in conclusion this movie was a pleasant surprise because it didn't make me want to smash my Zune to smithereens. That doesn't make it good by any means, but I'll probably watch it at least one more time. The petty small-town arguments are annoying because they trivialize the greater "evil aliens are killing people around the globe and trying to kill the protagonist" plot. They also bring up a conspiracy wherein the humans are working with aliens on both sides, but don't go too deeply into it. There are some interesting things that could have been pursued, but instead they focus on how much high school sucks. Wanna guess if the writers and/or director got teased in school?
2.5 stars out of 5
. . .I love you. . .
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