“I Am Number Four” wants to be a big alien invasion movie. It mostly succeeds at being a big, empty one.
The premise is simple. Nine aliens, each assigned a number, flee their home planet after a war. Number Four lands in Ohio and hides with his human protector, John Smith. The bad guys are hunting them down one by one. The movie spends nearly two hours establishing that setup and then doing almost nothing with it.
Trailer, via Amblin Entertainment.
The Setup
The film opens with a prologue showing the destruction of Lorien, the aliens’ home world. We meet Number Four, played by Alex Pettyfer, and his protector, Sarah, played by Dianna Agron. They live a quiet life until the hunter shows up and the chase begins.
The problem starts immediately. The film explains the rules of the universe in broad strokes — the nine survivors, the numbers, the powers — but never returns to them. Characters talk about abilities they don’t use. Powers are introduced and then forgotten. This pattern repeats throughout the film, so that by the end, the setup feels hollow rather than foundational.
The Chase
The middle stretch follows John Smith, played by Chace Crawford, as he tries to protect Number Four while falling for Sarah. The romance is meant to ground the sci-fi plot in something relatable. It doesn’t work. The love triangle feels tacked on rather than earned.
Action scenes are few and far between. When they happen, they’re poorly staged and hard to follow. The film relies on quick cuts and explosions to make up for the lack of actual stakes. There’s no sense of danger, no reason to care, because the characters themselves haven’t been given any reason to matter beyond their assigned numbers.
The Ending
The final act wraps things up quickly, tying off loose ends without giving the audience much to feel. Whether Number Four survives is left unclear because the film spent so little time making him matter. The climax, when it finally arrives, feels rushed and unsatisfying, a letdown after the long wait for any real action.
Comparing the Two Leads
| Lead | Character | Screen Time |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Pettyfer | Number Four | Short |
| Chace Crawford | John Smith | Long |
Alex Pettyfer plays Number Four with a flat, bored intensity. He’s supposed to be a survivor, but he never reads as scared or alive. Chace Crawford gets more screen time and leans into the romance angle, which makes his character feel less alien and more like a generic teen heartthrob. The imbalance between the two leads — one underused, one overplayed — is a symptom of a film that can’t decide where its focus should lie.
The film also suffers from pacing problems. The opening hour drags heavily, with long stretches devoted to exposition and filler scenes that add nothing to the plot. By the time the action kicks in, the audience has lost interest.
Running Order
| Scene | Time |
|---|---|
| Prologue: Lorien’s destruction | Opening portion |
| Arrival in Ohio | Early stretch |
| First encounter with the hunter | Midway through |
| Middle stretch with John Smith | Longest portion |
| Climax and resolution | Closing stretch |
That breakdown shows how much of the film is dedicated to setup over payoff. The climax, when it finally arrives, feels rushed and unsatisfying.
The film also struggles with tone. It wants to be a serious sci-fi thriller but keeps dipping into teenage comedy territory. The result is a movie that can’t decide what it is, bouncing between earnest and silly without landing anywhere.
The score, 3.6 out of 10, reflects a film that fails on nearly every level. It has a good idea — nine survivors hiding on Earth — but wastes it on a script that never commits to its own rules. The acting is flat, the pacing is uneven, and the ending offers no closure.
There’s little here worth recommending. The premise deserves better than this execution.
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