Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Callan McAuliffe, Jake Abel and Kevin Durand
Directed By: D.J. Caruso
Screenplay By: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Marti Noxon
Based on the novel of the same name by: Pittacus Lore
Produced By: Michael Bay
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures
Rating: PG-13, for intense sequences of violence and action, and for language.
Running Time: Approximately 104 minutes
Website: Findnumberfour.com
Budget: $60 million
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Release Date: February 18, 2011
Michael Bay is a much in-demand filmmaker whose films have generated hundreds of millions of dollars at the worldwide box office, but it’s become something of a running gag to greet any film that his name is attached to with instant cynicism. From Bad Boys to Armageddon to the Transformer films, Bay is responsible for directing some of the most ridiculous action films of the past 16 years; loud, mindless, and anything but original. He recently admitted how bad even he thinks Transformers 2 turned out.
So with his producing credit proudly touted in print and TV ads for the new alien invasion flick – starring Alex Pettyfer and “Glee’s” Dianna Agron as star-crossed soul mates whose blossoming relationship is endangered by a secret he’s harboring – the film’s overall quality is automatically suspect.
The film opens with a brief yet bracing action set piece in a jungle (presumably Mexico or Central America) where it’s established that a select group of nine young, peaceful aliens from the distant planet Lorien are being tracked down and killed here on Earth by a group of villainous aliens called the Mogadorians. Apparently there is some sort of pecking order amongst the Loriens – that’s never explained – as to who is next in line and why. And since we see Number Three meeting his fate in the film’s open, Number Four, played by Pettyfer, is next on the Mogadorians’ hit list.
Number Four and his protector, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), are alerted of the murder the night it happens and soon vacate their home in the Florida Keys for brand new digs in small-town Ohio. Henri, who masquerades as Number Four’s father to keep suspicion at bay, is not on-board with his charge (renamed “John Smith”) attending the local high school, but reluctantly concedes.
Once there, Four becomes smitten with Sarah (Agron), the budding-photog ex of the school’s star quarterback (Jake Abel) who’s got it in for “John” as well as sci-fi geek Sam (Callan McAuliffe) whose father has gone missing, and whom “John” protects and later befriends. And in typical fashion, flashes of Four’s secret powers begin to present themselves at the most inopportune times, which tech-savvy classmates quickly upload to the Internet making the Mogadorians tracking of him all the easier.
The film isn’t likely to appeal to the Twi-hards (the teen and mostly female fans of Twilight) that it’s clearly targeting. The love story here isn’t nearly as epic in nature, though not for lack of trying, andt the relationships Four shares with Henri and Sam resonant more and have better emotional payoffs.
So, is the Michael Bay-produced potential franchise another tedious foray into the over-the-top, CGI-filled, and zero character development action film for which he’s become famous? Yes and no.
Yes, as far as the action (especially in the action and CGI effects-packed third act goes), and no as some of the characters are well-defined and played. Pettyfer isn’t given much to work with, all he’s required to do is look buff and make the girls and gay boys swoon. D.J. Caruso, who directed the infinitely more enjoyable teen suspense thriller Disturbia, does elicit some movie-elevating turns from Agron, McAuliffe and Teresa Palmer – the latter as a sexy and mysterious traveler who comes into play during the film’s climax. Had the film been centered round her character, the film would have been a lot more fun, and the prospect of additional films to follow would actually be a good thing.
It doesn’t help matters that the film’s action-packed climax is stopped dead in its tracks by a quiet, supposedly romantic moment that’s complete malarkey and serves no real purpose. When blood-thirsty aliens are hunting you down, the last thing on your mind is taking a half hour to shoot the breeze and exchange pleasantries in a darkroom.
And when a projection problem at the screening I attended caused the top half of the film to be obstructed, more than one person commented on how the film improved as a result. Was that said in jest? Yes. Was it true? Even a little bit? Yes.
2 stars
