I am Number Four

Posted May 25, 2012 by Speed - 0 comments

John Smith isn’t from this planet. He’s an alien who had to leave his home when it got destroyed by another alien race that travels through the universe, seeking resources and destroying planets once they run out of anything that can be used. He and eight others arrived on Earth along with their protectors and are hiding from their deadly enemies who come after them one by one. John is number four and with the first three having been killed already, he’s next on the list.

He seeks refuge in a small town in Ohio where he tries to lead somewhat of a normal life and meets the love of his life, Sarah. However, it’s only a matter of time before the viscious aliens will pick up his smell…

Sound and Vision:
I am Number Four has very decent image quality with no technical problems. Contrast is pumped up, something we often see in modern day action movies, there’s plenty of detail, and colors are bright and shiny, something that really comes forth with the energy weapons blasts.

The audio track truly blasts from your speakers. The subwoofer gets a ton of action and will make your living room shake, dialogues are crystal clear and never get overwhelmed by the action, and effects are well-placed at all times. Great stuff.

Extras:
– Becoming Number 6
– Bloopers

Not really much to dig in here. Teresa Palmer talking about her character and the physical labour she had to go through for the movie, and a bunch of bloopers that probably won’t interest anyone.

Conclusion:
Think of Smallville put into a movie and you’ve got a good idea of what “I Am Number Four” is. There’s bad guys, aliens with special powers, a love story, tons of plot holes and plenty of possibility for a full list of sequels (which will probably be called “I Am Number X”).

If this would have been a TV series, it probably would have been a hit and one can wonder why it was ever conceived as a movie. The storyline is bland and superficial, lacks depth on all parts and doesn’t make sense what so ever. As a TV show, at least episode after episode the characters could have been deepened and their motives could have been explained. As a movie, however, there’s too much left out to make a compelling whole. The best example of this is the scene that’s also on the box cover with a girl walking away from a shed that gets blown to pieces. The scene comes out of nowhere and doesn’t even seem to fit any purpose. Maybe we’ll find out more about it in a sequel?

If you put your brain on pause and just let the action pass by, I Am Number Four can be pleasant entertainment, but nothing more. Give it a go as a rental, but there’s no reason to actually buy it.

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