I Am Number Four

Nine powerful alien children escape from their war torn home planet Lorien, and seek refuge on planet Earth. The nine separate across the continents protected by their guardians. But they are not alone, the Mogadorians, an enemy alien race who destroyed Lorien are on Earth hunting down the nine, threatened by their potential powers. The catch, a curse permits that the nine can only be killed off in a certain order. In the beginning of the film we see the death of Number Three, the focus then turns to the next in line, the protagonist of the film, Number Four (Alex Pettfyer).
We watch as Number Four moves to a new town; Paradise, Ohio; and we learn that he is constantly on the move with his Guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant). Number Four with his new alias, John Smith, enrolls in the local school, resulting in John not only having to deal with the awful prospect of being hunted down, but also having to deal with everyday high school perils. John is tired of always being on the run and yearns for stability in his life and with moving to Paradise he makes a friend in Alien-obsessed geek Sam (Melbourne-born Callan McAuliffe) and meets a love interest in Sarah (Glee's Dianna Agron). As John makes a home for himself in Paradise it results in him letting his guard down and perhaps allowing the evil Mogadorians; scary eight footed, bald, black eye, sharp teeth creatures, to locate him.
It may seem confusing but the film is easy to follow. It is based on the novel of the same name which was only released in August 2010, interesting enough the film studio jumped on the project early, buying the creative rights to the manuscript in 2009 before publication. The story obviously has changed from the novel, with information subtracted when it was adapted to film, but the film does setup the mystery arc of the whole series, something that was mentioned once in the novel.
The acting is adequate, the chemistry between John and Sarah is memorable, perhaps emphasised due to both parties being incredibly hot. The film does lose some emotional depth, they changed the order of events in the end of the film which I feel creates less emotional impact in the final crisis.
The action is incredibly cool, character Number Six, played wonderfully by hot Aussie Teresa Palmer, stole the action scenes with her leather jacket, motor bike and kick-ass tactics.
The film is in a potential series of six, the authors plan to spread the story over six novels, but only time will tell, based upon box office success, whether a sequel will ever hit out screens.
3/5