I confess: I was going to go and see Howl but having had a run of seeing more serious films owing to it being Oscar season, I decided at the last minute I just wanted some chewing gum for the eyes.
I'd seen a trailer for I Am Number Four which pretty much gives you the story and it is an interesting concept so plumped for that.
A small group of fugitive aliens are hiding out on earth from the Mogadorian's who took over their planet.
The Mogadorian's are hunting them down one by one, in order and Alex Pettyfer plays, John, or Number Four. He feels the death of his counterparts and so knows he is next on the hit list. He lives a semi nomadic lifestyle with his protector (Timothy Oliphant) moving from place to place and never setting down roots or getting too close to anyone in order to 'stay off the grid'.
When they arrive in Paradise, Ohio, John quickly falls for local girl Sarah (Dianna Agron) and starts drawing attention to himself as his true alien powers begin to show.
It takes its time setting up the story, establishing that John feel alone, isolated and frustrated with his lot and the action doesn't really kick in until about two thirds of the way through when John is forced into a confrontation with the local jocks and the Mogadorian's start to close in. Which is fine as some action flicks can rely a little too heavily on the action.
Pettyfer isn't the best actor but he pulls off hansom and troubled well enough. And it all skips along in a mildly entertaining way, spoiled only by the occasional Hollywood cliche moment (our protagonist and co-alien's silhouette's walking out of the burning embers of the final battle) and the extreme 'alieness' of said battle which seems strangely at odds with the more subtle teen angst/romance of the rest of the film.
I Am Number Four is the first in a planned six book series and I'd give the next film a go if it gets taken up.
It gets 55% from me, on UK Rotten Tomatoes it gets a thumbs down with 31% based on 130 reviews but visitor to the site seemed to like it giving it 70%. Meanwhile Metacritic has a similar imbalance with critics giving it 30% and the average site user giving it 6.1 out of 10.
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