Film: I Am Number Four (U/A)
Director: DJ Caruso
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Timothy Olyphant, Callan McAuliffe
Rating: *1/2
I Am Number Four is about an alien Number Four aka John Smith (Pettyfer) who can shoot colourful light from his hands while having equally colourful experiences in his new high school which highlights his alienation.
This Adonis-like extra-terrestrial, almost the last of his kind, settles down in a small town called Paradise, Ohio, after living on the move with his guardian Henri (Olyphant) who keeps him in constant check so that the evil Mogadorians (the scourge of the universe who annihilated Number Four’s home planet Lorien) don’t hunt him down like they did with his counterparts the unfortunate Numbers One, Two and Three.
Four soon falls for the talented but voyeuristic photographer Sarah Hart (Agron) who secretly yearns for escape from the one-horse town. Also, he meets the school outcast Sam (McAuliffe) whose missing father, thought to be a nutcase, may have made contact with the alien race years ago. He also rubs bullies the wrong way, but they are the least of his concerns with the ludicrously malignant Mogadorians closing in on his new home.
Apart from Guillermo Navarro’s cinematography and the okay-ish special effects, there isn’t really any excuse for someone to be caught dead watching this film. With its story clustered with too many elements, the film doesn’t receive much help from the far-from-compelling screenwriting.
Acting-wise, the well-chiselled lads and lasses who play everyday people do their best not to let their godhood get in the way of their art with the exception of Teresa Palmer who plays femme fatale Number 6.
Ultimately, Number Four treads on much trodden territory but lacks singularity, though certain Twilight fans may take a shine (or sparkle) to the notion of sci-fi/low fantasy meets college romance.
