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I Am Number Four (2011)

Director: DJ Caruso

Time Out rating

Average user rating

15 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

You can imagine the pitch meeting: ‘We’ve got this script, it’s basically “Twilight” with space aliens!’ ‘Here’s a blank cheque, go nuts…’

Forgettable pretty-boy Alex Pettyfer plays John, the high-school tearaway who just happens to be one of the last members of a benevolent alien race which has been all but wiped out by the evil Mogadorians. These scar-faced psychos have hunted down and killed three of John’s fellow survivors, and guess who’s next…

Crammed with daft names, kooky chicks, self-regarding hunks and flashy CG effects, ‘I Am Number Four’ is pure by-the-numbers teen gratification. DJ Caruso’s direction is overkeen and annoying, the bland script sets up painfully obvious character conflicts and follows them to their predictable conclusions, and only an enjoyably bonkers whizz-bang finale packed with monsters, ray guns and slo-mo flying saves the film from total tedium. The door is left wide open for a sequel, but it’s hard to imagine there’ll be much call for it.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2114: Feb 23 - Mar 2, 2011

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User reviews of this film

Kathy said...

Posted on Jan 30 2012 19:44 I loved this film, full of action and adventure. I`m not a teen, and I also loved Twilight. Watch and make up your own mind.

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Kay said...

Posted on Jan 09 2012 02:16 Just saw this film from lovefilm and thought it was really good. I'm 30 but still enjoyed; it's a easy movie to watch. I totally disagree with all the negative review this film has received, considering it is aimed at young teenagers who would love all the cgi and action without it being too complicated, it's not the next Angel and Demons. Therefore, pls do give it a good as its a great family film.

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AshleyPhillips said...

Posted on Jul 29 2011 23:26 What!? I've just read the reviews and I feel as though I was watching a different movie! This film was amazing, the beagle had me in tears at the end. The acting was faultless. Given how challenging a script they were given they all made it believable. A must see and I eagerly anticipate the next instalment. I give this film a well deserved 5 stars!
Nothing like twilight!! I slept through that! Twilight has the most boring story line. Whereas this left me thinking right... What's going to happen next? So I have to completely disagree with the review of the so called 'film critic'. Enjoyed every minute of this film 5*

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Lisa said...

Posted on Jul 08 2011 12:47 I read the book before I watched the film and I have to say that the film wasn't a patch on the book. The character relationships and emotion that was captured in the novel were crushed by this film, it's completly souless. It's great for the older kids to watch if they're bored.

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Lisa said...

Posted on Jul 08 2011 12:45 I read the book before I watched the film and I have to say that the film wasn't a patch on the book. The character relationships and emotion that was captured in the novel were crushed by this film, it's completly souless. It's great for a for something for the older kids to watch if they're bored.

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Lucy said...

Posted on Jun 22 2011 02:30 It's very obvious that this film would be compared with Twilight, simply because it is aimed at teens and is supernatural focused. Personally, I don't think all things supernatural need to be compared to Twilight just because it has been so successful...there was a world of sci-fi prior to that believe it or not. My thoughts on the film? Well, I enjoyed it for what it was, but if I were to be very critical, I would say it was lacking any character depth and there was no real chemistry going on between the characters either. I do recommend it though, but mainly to who it is aimed at - KIDS!

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3012 said...

Posted on Jun 15 2011 10:20 Its for kids so lighten up on the serious reviews anyone older than that. It ticks all the cert 12A boxes and has a nice finale! To the annoyance of many older reviewers it will undoubtedly do well in sequel land.

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lee said...

Posted on Mar 14 2011 22:30 i am number four is pure number two

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poohead14 said...

Posted on Mar 06 2011 11:24 this film is rubish knowone go to ssee it iy is a waste of time i hated it sooooo much who cares if you are number 4

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ed said...

Posted on Mar 01 2011 12:26 Very predictable but hey, predicability isn't always a bad thing. I way preferred this to the slow and dreary Twlight series. Alex Pettyfer would be better served by villainous roles as opposed to smarmy leads like this (see Tormented). I enjoyed the "motive-less" intergalactic baddies childish sense of humour (Kevin Durand) and the fianl showdown.
Reasonably disposable in a week of equally disposable movies (Drive Angry and The Rite)....

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scrumpyjack said...

Posted on Feb 28 2011 23:36 Another PERCY JACKSON. not a disaster but near! 5/10 (don't think we will be seeing any more of this franchise!

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k balogun said...

Posted on Feb 27 2011 20:11 you are all very sad and boring people why do you think it will be good for adults because its meant for people aged around 12 year old that why it is a 12A if it was meant for adults it would be a 18, any 12 years old would find this movie superb like I did.

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michelle&kyron said...

Posted on Feb 27 2011 14:46 I went to see this with my Son last night without reading the reviews first. I thoroughly enjoyed it, my son is 12 and loved it. It is full of action from start to finish with a nice storyline, will like to see a sequel to it in the near future. My son asked if we could buy the video as soon as it comes out.! Great entertainment and cannot understand some of the reviews, maybe the person who walked out after 40 minutes should have sat through it and lighten up a little! it is for a teen or younger audience, and is an entertaining film which I think was the aim of making it a 12A. As adults of kids this age we don't want extreme violence and too heavy a storyline anyway, at least then the kids know what is going on and not getting bored.

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Zoe said...

Posted on Feb 26 2011 17:04 I completely disagree with this review. Whilst Twilight was about soppy love and nothing else, this film was fast paced and had great action scenes. Yes, it may be for a specific young adult audience but it was definitely entertaining. There is no comparison with this film to Twilight if you see it as a completely unrelated film, which it is.
It is also told from the guys point of view, and you don't really see much of Sarah in it. Also, John is only just realising his powers so he isn't so egotistic and 'scary' like Edward Cullen. Sorry but it is not fair to put it in the same category as Twilight because people would judge it straight away and not want to watch it if they dislike Twilight.

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ARCHGATE said...

Posted on Feb 23 2011 21:56 Based on myself lasting only 40 minutes viewing of this film before walking out .... I agree with Tom's review. Insipid, unimiginitive and slow.

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