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Sunday, February 20, 2011

I Am Number Four

A still from the movie 
Critic's Rating:  ***
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Timothy Olyphant
Direction: DJ Caruso
Genre: Sci-Fi
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes
Readers Rating: ***1/2
More from I Am Number Four
Photogallery
Official Website
Story: John Smith (Alex Pettyfer), an alien from a planet named Mogador, is in hiding on planet Earth. He masquerades as a college boy in Ohio in order to shield himself from a bunch of extra terrestrial assassins who are closing in on him and his protector, Timothy Olyphant. But death isn't the only problem facing our super hero. He is bothered by a bunch of school bullies too and must grapple with a complicated love affair with an earthling (Dianna Agron) before he can think about the larger mission in his alien existence.

Movie Review: For a minute you might think you are watching another film from the Twilight series. In fact, even the lead pair, Alex Pettyfer and Dianna Agron, almost look like Cullen and Bella clones. The setting too is a school where the supra-normal hero must learn to blend in with the normal guys who can be mean and malevolent to newbies and not-so-normal people.

But you got to shake yourself out of the illusion...or just let it be. I Am Number Four works any which way, either as a Twilight clone or as just another super hero story. It has all the requisites of a normal action hero flick: high testosterone duels, weird creatures that metamorphose into strange and bloodthirsty creatures at the drop of a hat, a special pet (John's puppy) who ends up as the hero's guardian angel, a mission that's running out of time and a hero who has special gifts. So what's Number Four got that you and me don't possess? Palms that throw light and have infinite might and an anti-gravity drive that helps him to dive and save his girl when she drops into nowhere.

We don't get to really know what bothers the Mogadarians, but be ready to see more of them as this comic book caper shows enough promise to generate sequels. A fun watch.

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