Review of I Am Number Four (2011) by Tim B — 04 Oct 2012

I wasn't in a hurried rush to see I Am Number Four. Trailers looked kinda cool but I didn't wanna hold my breath over anything. I actually took a few days to digest this after I saw it as all I kept hearing was Twilight-comparisons.

After the time has passed, I can safely say I don't agree. It's Superman that popped into my head more than anything. The hero's home planet was destroyed, falls for a human lady and kicks some ass.

The only Twilight comparisons I saw here were a love story and the leads being teens. Pettyfer wasn't constantly shirtless, there was no love-triangle dilemma with Number 6 and I didn't despise these kids (no constant bickering? You bet!).

Granted, there's nothing here that blew me away, story-wise, but it looked pretty damn good and I wasn't put-off so I just sat back and let it all entertain me. The dialogue was pretty smart in places and I warmed up to most of the characters.

Alex Pettyfer has talent behind the pretty boy looks and did a great job as the lead. Dianna Agron backed Pettyfer up like a champ and both of them played off each other very well. Timothy Olyphant jacked up the maturity level this one needed and Teresa Palmer gave a cool tough-as-nails performance that the movie asked of her.

Kevin Durand looked creepy and posed as a threat to me throughout the watch. Another great job from him. D.J. Caruso pretty well kept it straight and to the point until the last act came in, where he decided to go ape with the crazy angles and the slow-mo.

Nothing substantial but effective nevertheless. On the lesser side, I did find many plot holes arising throughout this watch. Some of the editing was either really choppy or the script needed a tweak because I didn't get some of the random ass places people/situations would end up.

Could it be my dumbass ways instead? You decide, America! The whole affair, while never boring, did take a tad long to get the ball rolling. I did feel the movie a tad too long for its won good. Lastly, I could've went without the CG beastie battles.

It wasn't the worst I've seen, but I'm somewhat biased towards CG effects in general. That being said, I somewhat enjoyed myself on this watch and didn't think this was as terrible as people claim simply because it's mainly pointed at teens.

'Twilight franchise' this movie is far from and better than any of those entries as far as I'm concerned. If they make a sequel, I'll definitely give it a shot.