Review: 'I am Number Four' is disappointing numbers game

Film: I am Number Four
Cast: Alex Pettyfor, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Argon, Callan McAuliffes
Director: DJ Caruso
Rating: ** ½

I am Number Four is Reliance-Spielberg’s first major offering, adapted by Alfred Gough, Miles Milar and Marti Noxon from the first of a proposed six-book series by Pittacus Lore, so sequels are an expected.

The picture opens with the murder of a young man, the third in a sequentially linked chain of nine survivors from the destroyed planet Lorien. TV actor turned director Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia) Caruso helms this action-packed thriller about an extraordinary young man, John (Alex Pettyfor) who knows he is being hunted down by the Mogadorians – Alien invaders who look like heavy metal band leaders seeking to achieve universe domination. Three are dead. He is number four.

Teen love threatened by aliens under a sci-fi back-drop sounds like a new genre in the making. But is it really? This attempt is not much different from the Twilight series in that sense, save for it’s overall technical polish and FX extravagance and of course aliens substituting the vampires and werewolves.

A fresh good looking cast, flashy special effects and a clear-cut high-school mindset makes this an average thriller without the blood and gore to pitchfork it into the major league of money spinners. The action is energetic but the visuals are pretty lame. CGI monsters, football-field-sized explosions and sharp-shooting action from spunky Teresa Palmer helps kick-up the ante in the climactic showdown. But it still isn’t enough to get you an adrenaline high. Despite the narrative’s atrophied tameness, the film looks well set to give the Twilight generation something