I Am Number Four
When a film that’s based on a book is shot before its source material is even written, it’s generally a bad sign. Without a way to gauge the public’s interest in the material, filmmakers will aim to give it as much mass appeal as possible. The end result is often something like “I Am Number Four:” bland, superficial and dumb.
Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) is the fourth of nine surviving alien children who fled to Earth after their home planet Lorien was destroyed by the evil Mogadorians. Along with his bodyguard Henri (Timothy Olyphant), the duo moves from town to town, evading a team of Mogadorians intent on wiping out the last of the Lorians. When three of the nine are killed, Four begins to realize that he must fight back if he wants to save his race.
To its credit, the movie delivers the requisite PG-13 violence tolerably, but it’s hard to take the Mogadorians seriously as villains. They resemble seven-foot shock rockers with tribal tattoos and orthopedic shoes, and look like rejects from a sci-fi convention. It’s also never explained why they kill the Lorians in numerical order or why they even bothered to hunt them all the way to Earth anyways.
Taking a page from the “Twilight” school of screenwriting, a human love interest (Dianna Agron) is introduced so Four has someone to yearn tragically for and also a reason to fight the Mogadorians. Unlike people on Earth, Lorians can only love one person forever, which highlights a particularly admirable Lorian trait or a rather depressing human one.
With its romance, action and infinite sequel possibility, the producers of “I Am Number Four” cover all their bases in an attempt to become the next franchise hit. The only thing they forgot to include was a reason for anyone to watch it.
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