I Am Number Four
Rating: 5/10
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron
Director: D J Caruso
Teen sci-fi is always a popular genre and I Am Number Four arrives on the screens, crying out the possibilities for a potential franchise.
Pettyfer is "John Smith", an alien on the run and one of a mysterious nine from his home world being hunted.
Holed up in Ohio, Smith, with his protector Henri (Olyphant) tries to blend in - enrolling in high school and just attempting to be a normal teen with the usual teen issues.
But as the others of his race are hunted down and killed, Smith complicates his life by falling for local girl Sarah (Agron), making it difficult for him to flee his pursuers.
So as the tensions grow with his pursuers, his guardian Henri, Smith decides to take a stand.
I Am Number Four is reasonably good teen fare - it's nothing original; new kid has issues with school bullies, resents the interference of his guardian, falls for a girl - they're all very universally explored themes.
While it zips along well, despite some impressive action sequences and effects, there's little that makes this stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Granted, its teen audience may be attracted to the ideas and the good looks (and at times moodiness) of the core characters, but that may be its undoing for the rest of the cinema going public.
Pettyfer (formerly of Stormbreaker) is fine as the alien on the run; his scenes with Palmer are okay too - there's nothing radical in them and there's nothing that makes you switch off or not engage with them throughout.
I Am Number Four ends with the potential for a sequel (and is
from a series of books) but unless the drama is stepped up a little
and the audience widened, it could end up being a case of a missed
opportunity.
