movie report: I Am Number Four (2011)
movie report: I Am Number Four (2011)
I aimed to see this movie when it came out, for these reasons:
• From the trailer, it looked like people had super powers.
• It has a number in the title, upping its geek score.
• The number in the title might actually be a character’s name, like Seven of Nine, which pushes its geek score into the stratosphere.
But I didn’t, because it didn’t last too long in theaters because of terrible reviews.
I watched it on DVD, and right off the bat, it started doing things I don’t like in movies, such as:
• Introducing someone I thought was the main character, then killing him off within 5 minutes.
• Dark and murky scenes where I can’t tell who’s who and what’s going on.
• Characters talk soft and mumbly: can’t understand what they’re saying.
• Confusion about who the good guys and bad guys are.
• Introduction of 3 young good-looking carefree guys riding on jet skis on the ocean: I do not want to sit through a 2-hour Pepsi commercial.
• Teenagers having a big party around a bonfire on the beach: see above.
• The main good-looking guy has an impossibly good-looking girlfriend: eyeroll.
• Scene that rips off Jaws: I’ve never even seen Jaws and I can tell.
• Main character narrating his entire backstory during a long car trip: if I ever did this in one of my stories, my writers group would kid me unmercifully and justifiably.
I probably would have turned it off at this point, but I was busy doing something on my laptop and let it run. And you know what? It started getting better. Especially when I turned on Subtitles so I could understand what they were saying.
John, the main character, is one of only 9 survivors (plus their guardians) of a planet of Good Aliens who were wiped out by a planet of Bad Aliens. These 9 survivors are hiding out on Earth. They will develop special abilities, if they can live to maturity. Problem is, the Bad Aliens are also on Earth and are killing off the Good Aliens one by one. Three of the 9 have already been killed. John is number four, if he’s not careful.
Henri, John’s guardian, moves him yet again to keep him safe, from Florida to Ohio. Henri has some mysterious reason for going to one particular town. I liked Henri a lot. He has no patience with John’s desire to live a normal life: survival is his only concern.
One thing I liked about this movie was how the teenagers act like teenagers act. John’s very life is in danger from the Bad Aliens, but when he meets a nice girl, she becomes the focus of his life. This is absolutely the way guys think. Alien assassins? Big deal. I have to meet Sarah at the Fair.
Another thing I liked is how John has no idea what his powers are or how to use them. This is very realistic – given that it’s about super powers. I mean, if you suddenly had the ability to fly or become invisible, how would you know? He discovers his abilities accidentally.
Things become complicated. You can’t tell who’s good and who’s bad. Ordinary high school jackassery gets mixed with inter-alien battles. Some people are apparently collaborating with the Bad Aliens. It becomes clear that the Good Aliens need to survive not only for themselves, but to keep the Bad Aliens from conquering Earth too. There are some good battle scenes. Not to mention a mysterious beagle.
I think this would be a good movie for teenagers and adolescents, or those with minds like adolescents, like me. Most of the violence is not shown, but happens off-screen, making this movie appropriate for kids and the squeamish. There’s no sex at all.
When it was over, it occurred to me that, although matters are resolved, there are still lots of unanswered questions, and that this movie really needs a sequel, or possibly a TV show, to move things along. I could easily see a weekly series where John and his good-looking friends travel around the country, and face off against more Bad Aliens and their minions, find other survivors, and learn more about their planet and so forth. They would need to take diction lessons, of course, but still.
I guess it never happened because of the bad reviews. Roger Ebert hated it, for example. And I’m not saying there aren’t holes in the plot. At several points I found myself saying, Wait, what? But, bottom line, enjoyable.
Moderately recommended for those that like low-violence science fiction.
I aimed to see this movie when it came out, for these reasons:
• From the trailer, it looked like people had super powers.
• It has a number in the title, upping its geek score.
• The number in the title might actually be a character’s name, like Seven of Nine, which pushes its geek score into the stratosphere.
But I didn’t, because it didn’t last too long in theaters because of terrible reviews.
I watched it on DVD, and right off the bat, it started doing things I don’t like in movies, such as:
• Introducing someone I thought was the main character, then killing him off within 5 minutes.
• Dark and murky scenes where I can’t tell who’s who and what’s going on.
• Characters talk soft and mumbly: can’t understand what they’re saying.
• Confusion about who the good guys and bad guys are.
• Introduction of 3 young good-looking carefree guys riding on jet skis on the ocean: I do not want to sit through a 2-hour Pepsi commercial.
• Teenagers having a big party around a bonfire on the beach: see above.
• The main good-looking guy has an impossibly good-looking girlfriend: eyeroll.
• Scene that rips off Jaws: I’ve never even seen Jaws and I can tell.
• Main character narrating his entire backstory during a long car trip: if I ever did this in one of my stories, my writers group would kid me unmercifully and justifiably.
I probably would have turned it off at this point, but I was busy doing something on my laptop and let it run. And you know what? It started getting better. Especially when I turned on Subtitles so I could understand what they were saying.
John, the main character, is one of only 9 survivors (plus their guardians) of a planet of Good Aliens who were wiped out by a planet of Bad Aliens. These 9 survivors are hiding out on Earth. They will develop special abilities, if they can live to maturity. Problem is, the Bad Aliens are also on Earth and are killing off the Good Aliens one by one. Three of the 9 have already been killed. John is number four, if he’s not careful.
Henri, John’s guardian, moves him yet again to keep him safe, from Florida to Ohio. Henri has some mysterious reason for going to one particular town. I liked Henri a lot. He has no patience with John’s desire to live a normal life: survival is his only concern.
One thing I liked about this movie was how the teenagers act like teenagers act. John’s very life is in danger from the Bad Aliens, but when he meets a nice girl, she becomes the focus of his life. This is absolutely the way guys think. Alien assassins? Big deal. I have to meet Sarah at the Fair.
Another thing I liked is how John has no idea what his powers are or how to use them. This is very realistic – given that it’s about super powers. I mean, if you suddenly had the ability to fly or become invisible, how would you know? He discovers his abilities accidentally.
Things become complicated. You can’t tell who’s good and who’s bad. Ordinary high school jackassery gets mixed with inter-alien battles. Some people are apparently collaborating with the Bad Aliens. It becomes clear that the Good Aliens need to survive not only for themselves, but to keep the Bad Aliens from conquering Earth too. There are some good battle scenes. Not to mention a mysterious beagle.
I think this would be a good movie for teenagers and adolescents, or those with minds like adolescents, like me. Most of the violence is not shown, but happens off-screen, making this movie appropriate for kids and the squeamish. There’s no sex at all.
When it was over, it occurred to me that, although matters are resolved, there are still lots of unanswered questions, and that this movie really needs a sequel, or possibly a TV show, to move things along. I could easily see a weekly series where John and his good-looking friends travel around the country, and face off against more Bad Aliens and their minions, find other survivors, and learn more about their planet and so forth. They would need to take diction lessons, of course, but still.
I guess it never happened because of the bad reviews. Roger Ebert hated it, for example. And I’m not saying there aren’t holes in the plot. At several points I found myself saying, Wait, what? But, bottom line, enjoyable.
Moderately recommended for those that like low-violence science fiction.
Comments
i deliberately never saw it when it first came out, because i was living at the beach and had no desire to be scared away from it. and i've just never had the interest to see it since.