I Am Number Four

After the success of Twilight, there was clearly a market for brooding teenage sci-fi/fantasy films. For a start, the audiences for these films aren’t that concerned about plot or big ideas, they are all about how good looking the lead actors are.

After the success of Twilight, there was clearly a market for
brooding teenage sci-fi/fantasy films. For a start, the audiences for
these films aren’t that concerned about plot or big ideas, they are all
about how good looking the lead actors are.

As with Twilight, the lead male in I Am Number Four is an English actor with an established female fan base; this time Alex Pettyfer who made a name for himself in Alex Rider: Stormbreaker. In
this film he plays a visitor from another planet who is masquerading as
17-year-old high- school student John Smith, although he looks older
than the actor’s actual 21 years. Smith is being hunted down by a group
of thuggish aliens bent on killing him and the rest of his kind. Three
have already been summarily despatched and he is next. Smith has started
to glow in the dark at inappropriate moments, unlike Twilight’s Edward
who sparkles in the sunlight. Luckily Smith has his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant)
to guide and protect him through these teenage transformations. When
the pair move into a small town, Smith falls for the pretty loner girl (Dianna Agron from Glee)
and, naturally, matters get complicated, especially when Smith’s powers
start to develop, conveniently in time for him to battle the horde of
enemy aliens and save the girl: all very predictable.

Bearing in mind the target audience, this isn’t a bad movie but it does feel like an expensive pilot for a TV series along
the lines of Roswell High. This is hardly surprising when you look at
the writers: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar were not only the creators of
Smallville but they also wrote Spider-Man 2 and other movies of
that ilk They were aided by Marti Noxon, producer and regular writer on
Buffy, Angel and Mad Men. Even the film’s director DJ Caruso cut
his teeth in TV on shows such as Dark Angel, Smallville and The Shield
before making the superb Disturbia. If it had been pitched as a TV
series in the first place its faults would have been more easily
accepted. We would have allowed for clunky dialogue and improbable
scenes, although the character and plot developments would have been
stretched over 10 – 20 hours rather than 100 minutes. The concept worked
for Roswell High and would work equally well for this, especially with
all the other numbered aliens scattered across the planet. However, this
is a Michael Bay movie, not a TV show, so it is filled with
plenty of impressive action set scenes and no shortage of big
explosions, with the inevitable set up for a sequel.

If you are not a teenager looking for a popcorn-fuelled, doe-eyed
distraction during half term, this is not the greatest sci-fi movie ever
made, nor the worst, but sits somewhere in the dull mediocrity between
predictable studio film and great television. It entertains but is easily forgotten.
If producers were more concerned with telling stories and understanding
their target audiences then films like this would developed for
television where they would draw a larger devoted fan base, and be given
a much larger canvas for developing character and story arcs. Of
course, it could lead to the inevitable mid-season cancellation (if was
actually really good) and/or the disappointing feature film follow-up
(Serenity being the exception).

To Buy I Am Number Four On DVD Click Here Or On Blu-Ray Click Here