Movie Review: I Am Number Four

Kai and I just LOVE movies. It has been a favorite ritual of ours to go out on a movie date every other week at the very least. However, after the holiday season and all the baby planning and out-of-town trips that we had to go on during the past two months, we have been unable to go and see a movie since December.  So, it was actually a real treat to go on another movie date last night when we watched I AM NUMBER FOUR. This might probably be the last movie date for the time being since I’m sure we won’t be able to get out by ourselves that much once Ziggy arrives. Anyway, I thought it would be nice to do movie reviews every now and then here in my blog. I used to do them a lot during one of my MBA classes. So, here goes my thoughts on the movie.

I AM NUMBER FOUR is a story about a teenager called John, who has been transferring from one town to another on the run from those who are after him. Not your typical teenager, John is actually one of nine aliens who escaped from another planet from villains who are out to hunt and kill all of them one by one. The movie opens with Number Three getting killed. Number Four is next.

John, together with his protector/guardian, Henry, sets out for a small town in Ohio hoping to hide from the villains. However, instead of lying low, John’s life turns around when he falls in love with small town girl, Sarah, and gets in trouble with the cool, football crowd. John also begins to discover his powerful abilities, which made it even harder to blend in, making it easy for his villains to find him and wreck havoc in the otherwise quiet town.

The film is produced by Michael Bay and directed by D.J. Caruso. The screenplay was written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Marti Noxon. The cast includes Alex Pettyfer (John), Timothy Olyphant (Henry, the guardian), Diana Agron (Sarah) and Teresa Palmer (Number 6).

I went into watching this movie with high expectations knowing that it was produced by Michael Bay. I wasn’t disappointed. Like the usual Michael Bay movies, I Am Number Four is highly entertaining and action-packed. I was never once bored watching it. It was one action scene after another, with sweet and funny scenes injected in between. I thought the special effects were good though nothing special compared to other similar movies. The writing wasn’t exceptional though I loved how they were able to put in humor in the scenes.

Acting-wise, I thought Alex Pettyfer was pretty convincing as John. I don’t remember seeing him in other movies before though, but there’s no doubt that his being the star in this film will help him get more projects and make him more popular. I loved seeing Timothy Olyphant again since I don’t see him in as many films anymore. It was also refreshing to see Diana Agron in the movie. We, of course, all know her from Glee as the head cheerleader, Quinn. Her character, Sarah, in the movie is very different from Quinn and it was really nice to see her portray someone different. I believe this is her first movie role, so here’s hoping she gets more in the future. I especially loved seeing Teresa Palmer as Number 6. The last time I saw her was in Adam Sandler’s 2008 movie, Bedtime Stories, wherein she portrayed the spoiled rich brat daughter of a hotel magnate. In this movie, however, she plays a real tough kick-ass chick, who helps John battle with the villains in the story, so it was nice to see her do something totally different. I love her character the most.

Overall, I think it was a very enjoyable experience watching this movie and I definitely recommend for people to see it. I heard that this is actually based on a novel, which I hope I was able to read first before watching the movie adaptation. Kai loved the film too and is actually hoping for a sequel. I wouldn’t mind watching a continuation to this story either.