I Am Number Four arrived in February 2011 with Michael Bay producing, D.J. Caruso directing, and a tagline that promised a war: “There were nine of us. Three are dead…” What the film delivers is a teenage alien named John Smith, played by Alex Pettyfer, moving from a Florida beachside bungalow to an old farm in Paradise, Ohio, and trying not to get killed in sequence.
Trailer, via Amblin Entertainment.
John Smith and the Garde
The premise is the film’s one clean idea. John is Number Four of nine children sent from the planet Lorien to Earth, each protected by a guardian called a Cêpan. The Mogadorians destroyed Lorien and now hunt the Garde, who can only be killed in order — One through Nine. Three are already dead.
That mechanic should generate dread. It generates exposition instead.
Alex Pettyfer and the Cast
Pettyfer was 21 when he took the lead. Timothy Olyphant plays Henri, his guardian, after Sharlto Copley dropped out over press obligations for The A-Team. Kevin Durand plays the Mogadorian Commander. Dianna Agron, then a star of Glee, won the romantic lead as Sarah Hart after DreamWorks ran multiple rounds of tests.
The supporting pieces are thin:
- Callan McAuliffe as Sam Goode, John’s best friend and a conspiracy theorist
- Jake Abel as Mark James, the football-player bully and Sarah’s ex
- Teresa Palmer as Number Six, the other Loric tracking John
Two Films in One
| Element | What the film wants | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| The hunt | Mogadorians closing in | A commander and two manipulated conspiracy theorists |
| The romance | John and Sarah against the world | An amateur photographer and a Spring Scream Festival chase |
| The powers | Enhanced strength, speed, agility | A woods fight that ends with Sam witnessing everything |
The Spring Scream sequence is the hinge. Mark and his friends chase John and Sarah into the woods; John uses his powers, saves her, and Sam sees. From there the film stops being a fugitive story and becomes a school story with aliens bolted on.
A Budget That Outran the Reviews
The Hollywood Reporter put the budget between $50 million and $60 million. The film grossed $149.9 million, a box-office success. It also drew generally negative reviews, and the sequel plans were cancelled over that poor performance — not the gross. A reboot from producer Neal H. Moritz, with writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar returning, is in the works.
The Verdict on I Am Number Four
I Am Number Four is a 109-minute pilot for a series that never got made. The sequence rule is a good hook, and the film does almost nothing with it — no dread, no countdown, just a bully, a Beagle named Bernie Kosar, and a sheriff asking questions. Pettyfer is a blank where the fear should be. Palmer’s Number Six arrives late and leaves the strongest impression, which tells you where the energy actually went.
The gross is the only number here that looks healthy.
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