Susan Granger’s review of “I Am Number Four” (DreamWorks/Disney)
If you’ve ever thought your teenager’s friends were a bit strange, consider that they might be aliens, as in from another solar system. In this movie, nine branded extraterrestrials from the planet Lorien fled to Earth after their civilization was annihilated by the evil Mogadorians, who resemble a tattooed, black leather-clad biker-gang from “The Matrix,” and who are engaged in sequential intergalactic pursuit. When Number Three is hunted down and killed in a jungle, Number Four, John Smith (dimpled British actor Alex Pettyfer), is next. Trying to be inconspicuous, he travels from place to place with his mentor/father-figure guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), adopting assumed names.
On his first day in a new school in rural Paradise, Ohio, John clashes with Mark (Jake Abel) the football-captain bully, befriends the nerdy, UFO-obsessed Sam (Callan McAuliffe) and becomes enamored with sexy, free-spirited Sarah (Dianna Agron, the pregnant cheerleader on TV’s “Glee”). Amplifying his loneliness and adding to his anxiety, he’s just beginning to discover his superpowers, like having amazing strength and glowing hands that emit energy beams, yet he’s unable to control them, causing him to flee from physics class. Eventually, in an explosive, apocalyptic battle involving CGI beasts, he’s joined by Sarah, Sam, another Lorien, Number Six (Teresa Palmer), a but-kicking Aussie communicating exclusively in double-entendres – and a puppy.
Based on the young-adult novel by Pittacus Lore (pseudonym used by James Frey and Jobie Hughes), it’s been adapted by Alfred Gough & Mark Millar (creators of TV’s “Smallville”) and Marti Noxon, superficially directed by D.J. Caruso (“Disturbia,” “Eagle Eye”) and over-produced by Michael Bay (“Transformers”). But its cliché-filled roots lie in pulpy, melodramatic series like “X-Files,” “Roswell,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Smallville,” built around outsiders or misfits who are undercover in small towns. That’s an angst-and-alienation genre harking back to “Rebel Without a Cause” and, more recently, spawning the “Twilight” mega-franchise.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “I Am Number Four” is a trivial 3, aimed at teens. Despite being set up for a sequel, its days are numbered.
