The Movie
Built upon a script by Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, joined by Buffy's Marti Noxon (adapted from the book by Jobie Hughes and James Frey, writing as Pittacus Lore), I Am Number Four reminds us of any number of more original if less-slick science fiction movies aimed at a younger audience. But what it really feels like is like an overwrought episode of--you guessed it--Smallville, centered upon a newly super-powered teenager (Alex Pettyfer) wrestling with his angst when not battling his nemeses, against a backdrop of trite high school drama. Even the too-familiar supporting characters sound like they just got off the bus from a certain fictional Kansas town.
The plot, such as it is, follows a small-and-dwindling group of physically superior, fashion-model-perfect-looking alien protectors sent to Earth from their homeworld. (Not named Krypton.) Each is paired with his/her own elite bodyguard because they are being pursued by a different, evil alien race, who are successfully picking off these numbered refugees one by one, in sequence.
Now living in Ohio under his latest fake identity, Four (Pettyfer) is getting mighty tired of running, and big changes are about to unfold for him and his adopted planet. A cast peppered with TV faces including the lovely and talented Dianna Agron ("Glee") doesn't do much to enhance the cinematic cachet of I Am Number Four, and the cartoonishness of the bad guys knocks more than a few points off of the I.Q. Visually at least the movie is a triumph, but more on that later.
And be sure to read Karen Dahlstrom's review of I Am Number Four.
That's what it's for.
The Picture
The copious amounts of visual effects here are simply awesome, often involving the subtle, believable glow of otherworldly energy, and always blended with the live action with great precision that holds up beautifully in high-def. For those interested in more detail, check out our interview with ILM effects guru Bill George, The abundant blacks--lots of nighttime scenes--have a rich, natural look even if they are not always particularly detailed. Although shot on film, the 1.85:1 image shows slight video streaking and a touch of noise, but not enough to impact its video score too greatly.
The Sound
I Am Number Four boasts some exceptional surrounds, highlighted by clean phasing between the speakers, doing wonders to enhance both the atmosphere and the intensity of the action. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack also shows off a fair amount of directionality in the gunshots and elsewhere, and while the bass is pleasingly realistic I did find myself wishing for more of it. I wound up playing this movie significantly louder than usual for my home theater and it really benefited from the bump.
The Extras
Genial director D.J. Caruso personally introduces the five deleted scenes (welcome back, Karen Allen!), 19 minutes total. "Becoming Number Six" (about 12 minutes) covers all aspects of co-star Teresa Palmer's transformation into an extra-terrestrial ass-kicker. There are also roughly three minutes of bloopers, and all of these extras are in HD.
Disc Two is a standard-definition DVD with the movie, the bloopers and the featurette. Disc Three carries a Digital Copy for iTunes or Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
I hear that there is as-yet-undecided talk of a sequel, but I contend that I Am Number Four plays more like the big-budget pilot for an ongoing television series. How will these different relationships play out? What new power will we discover this week? Which Number will we meet in the season finale? We'll probably never find out, but in the meantime this super-looking, super-sounding Blu-ray will certainly appeal to fans of the genre and to angst-ridden misunderstood teens everywhere.
Product Details
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