Sunday, February 27, 2011

I Am Number Four

In one of the most uniquely titled films of the year, I Am Number Four stars Alex Pettyfer as the titular character, one of the last of an alien race hiding on Earth. But making matters worse, another alien race is attempting to wipe them out before they conquer Earth. Out of the nine good-looking aliens living among the average schmoes on Earth, the first three are dead leaving Number Four next on the list.

After the alien plot is established, the movie gets a bit too “Twilight-y” for my taste. Number Four tries to get acclimated in a new school where a nice loner girl (Dianna Agron) catches his eye. It’s all very overdone. Though luckily this romance bit is split up with developments involving the villains and his guardian Henri, played by Timothy Olyphant. But unfortunately a lot of the developments are teasers for stories that would appear in later films. This is of course contingent on the overall box office numbers. I think the movie is good enough to build a franchise. It focuses on the characters more than the sci-fi storyline, so it can appeal to varying audiences. Though it’s not always the best idea to invest your whole story in the first movie of a series without guaranteed sequels.

When Teresa Palmer’s character, Number Six, gets involved for the final battle, the film begins to live up to the epic nature of the trailers. Pettyfer has the makings of a franchise action star. But this his second attempt after Alex Rider: Stormbreaker, which failed to yield a sequel. So this may be one of his last chances. But he’ll definitely be in a lot more movies either way. And since I liked the movie I’m not going to make any jokes about changing its name to “I am Number Two.” Do you get it? Number two as in poop… (7.9 out of 10)

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