Film Review: I Am Number Four

I Am Number Four. Rated M (science fiction themes and violence). 109 minutes. Directed by D. J. Caruso. Screenplay by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Marti Noxon. Based on the novel by Pittacus Lore (Jobie Hughes and James Frey).

After a hostile takeover of their planet by the violent Mogadorians, super-alien refugee from the planet Lorien ‘John’ (Alex Pettyfer) and his guardian ‘Henri’ (Die Hard 4’s Timothy Olyphant) are hiding on Earth. John is the fourth in a line of seven super-aliens who, it is hoped, will one day be powerful enough to reclaim Lorien from the Mogadorian invaders. But when Mogadorian warriors arrive on earth, John learns that something has gone terribly wrong – and he is next in line to be exterminated.

It can be quite a bewildering experience watching a movie only just manage to hold itself together – especially one like this, which has expert pedigree and an extremely promising set-up. That the end result is a mish-mash of the vastly superior Predator and Terminator franchises (mixed with a generous amount of Twilight-inspired lovelorn angst) can only be described as disappointing.

While Caruso (Disturbia) and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) certainly bring their anticipated panache to several sequences (the opening and the haunted hay-ride are two stand-outs), the end result is a derivative, dim, dark and loosely-structured effort that sci-fi devotees will more than likely find themselves laughing off the screen. Why, for example, do the fearless Mogadorian warriors who have conquered distant planets have to travel by car? Why do they have noses and gills? And what’s with the I Dream of Jeannie-inspired puffs of smoke when someone is exterminated?

Model-turned-actor Pettyfer tries incredibly hard in the leading role, but lacks the necessary emotional range to make the character (or his journey) even remotely interesting. On the other hand, Australian-born Callan McAuliffe shows real promise as ‘Sam’ – the boy who finds his missing father’s alien theories validated by John and Henri’s arrival in his hometown. Dianna Agron as John’s love-interest ‘Sarah’ easily accounts for the little she actually gets to do (consisting mostly of endlessly wondering what on earth is going on), while Australian-born Teresa Palmer absolutely steals the show with an entertainingly rough-shod turn as ‘Number 6’.

Whether the impending “I am number …” franchise gets off the ground will depend entirely on the extent to which its target audience embrace its clumsy and unoriginal pretence. Based on this Terminator-lite effort, it’s unlikely.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.