I am Number Four – A Review

I Am Number Four is a book that is written by the author Pittacus Lore. The events of this book revolve around a fifteen year old boy, John Smith, who is an alien that comes from a planet called Loren, and eight other aliens, each with their mentor, after their planet got destroyed. The Lorien aliens escape to planet earth after fear of being killed by another species of aliens called the Mogadorians who seek to destroy their kind. A certain sequence is taking place when it comes to the murders, and John is the fourth to come. 

The plot of the book impressed many people, which led it to being turned into a motion picture before the publishing of the book itself. The movie was directed by D. J. Caruso (the director of Disturbia) starring Alex Pettyfer as Number Four, Timothy Olyphant as Henri, Dianna Agron as Sarah Hart, and Callan McAuliffe as Sam Goode. 

Many readers seemed to be blown away with the content of the book, paving way for an urge to watch the movie and experience what was described so wonderfully in an even better manner through the film. The movie however seemed to let people and their expectations down. In many cases, when books are turned into movies a lot of chapters are cut out and some events are altered due to the time limit. This movie however had changes that were eccentric and extreme. An example of this was the change in the powers that Number Four possesses.  In the book, he had telekinesis, immunity to fire and the ability to light up his hand, while in the movie he had telekinesis and the ability to discharge an extremely powerful light from his hands to kill the Mogadorians. 

Moreover, some questions were left unanswered after the movie ended, or to be accurate, many events were left unexplained. Number Six, for example, is a supporting character in the book that appears only in the last few chapters, while in the movie she appears from the very beginning. This misleads those who haven’t really read the book to not understand what is going on.  Furthermore, a lot of tense moments that gave the plot life were simply taken out of the movie's story which didn't make any sense to all those bewildered readers out there. To add to that, the important events that explain to the viewer a main idea were not even mentioned, like the time when Number Four found out the history of his planet while learning to control his powers.  This was of utmost importance to the development of this particular character.

All this does not disregard the efforts that were put into the movie, especially those of D. J. Caruso and his cast. In a better scenario, these efforts could have been presented in a much better manner. Therefore, the movie is left with a rating of 4.5 out of 10.

Written by: Haya Haha, 10

With the Help of : Marah Zada, 8