Movie Review: I Am Number Four

**This is a review about the MOVIE of I Am Number Four - not the book.**

I Am Number Four directed by D.J. Caruso. DreamWorks, 2011. 109 minutes.

      1. A succinct evaluative annotation. Plot: [Conflict] John is from another planet, called Lorain, but was forced to come to Earth when his planet was invaded by the Mogadorians (Mogs). John and 8 other children were able to escape from the Mogs and have been on the run their whole lives. John is Number 4 and the Mogs are killing the children in order until they get to Number 9. [Rising Action] John and his protector, Henri, are on the run when they go to Paradise, Ohio and the Mogs catch up to them. [Climax] John meets Number 6 as he faces the Mogs who are trying to kill them, testing John’s newly found powers to survive. [Falling Action] John and Number 6 are able to defeat the Mogs, but they know there will be more coming to finish what the Mogs started. [Resolution] John and Number 6 go in search for the other 4 remaining survivors of their planet so they can defeat the Mogs together. Theme: The theme of this movie includes adventure, aliens, survival, friendship, home, and war. Tone: The tone of this movie is serious because John is always running to stay alive and he wants the running to stop so he can finally live in one place longer than a few months to a year. Style: The director’s style to this movie is a lot of action, darkened scenes, and very little dialogue. The actions speak louder than words in this movie. Characterizations: John is reserved and quiet, not wanting to attract attention to stay off of the Mogs radar. He is very serious and very loyal to the ones he cares about. Number 6 was not in the movie too much, but she is very mysterious and a survivor, doing what she needs to do in order to stay alive.

2. My reactions to the MOVIE. This was a good movie. The action was enough to keep the attention of the viewers and left the viewer in enough suspense throughout the movie to stay sitting through it all to find out what was going to happen next – which is one of the strengths. One of the weaknesses, for me, was that a lot of the scenes were shot in complete dark, which made it hard to know what was going on and then blinding light appeared making it still hard to see in some shots. There was no accuracy to this movie as all of the content was about aliens and make believe information.

3. Comment on the cover art. This is the cover art of I Am Number Four’s movie and I think it is very intriguing for the viewer to look at while deciding if they want to watch it or not. One will look at the cover and want to know why the guy’s hands have blue surrounding them, and after watching the movie, I can see why there is fire in the corner of the cover. I think most will like the cover and will find it appealing enough to rent it for the night, but some, like teenage boys, might not want to watch a movie because there’s a guy on the cover and it won’t be that interesting for them.