Well, as I just mentioned on my twitter feed (yeah, it's still there....even though I forget....) I saw the movie for I Am Number Four today! This is my first Book vs. Movie in a LONG time, so I might set things up differently for now, see how I like it, and stick to it in the future.
Movie Review
Overall, the movie itself was decent. I think that had you not read the book, things could be kind of confusing, but not so bad that you couldn't follow the story. The movie seemed kind of rushed, so you didn't really get attached to the characters (I am mainly referring to Henri), but the high school kids did a great job as acting like high school kids. Especially Sam. The movie didn't have terribly intense fight scenes, the main characters were usually able to win without much trouble. (One funny thing was that John has the same text ring-tone that I do, so the first few times that he got a text, I checked my pocket before realizing that it was his phone, not mine.)
The Good
The only actor that really seemed to fit the look of the character was Sam. He definitely looked the right age, talked like a high school student, and was good at being picked on. He didn't wear his NASA shirt or his dad's glasses, but those are minor details.
I am very glad that they started the movie with the death of Number Three. I'm not meaning to sound morbid, but this was an effective beginning to the book, and I'm glad that the movie kept it. They messed up a few details, but every movie will.
The haunted hay ride was pretty good. It was supposed to have more people on the ride, and the fight was supposed to last a little longer, but it was one of the more accurate scenes.
My last thing to add is that I LOVED Bernie Kosar (The dog, not the poster. Come on, that should be obvious.) I am definitely a dog person, so the happy little dog following John made me happy. (I didn't like his morph to the giant dog monster though.)
The Bad and the Ugly
I must say that the choice in actors was very poor in this movie. Not that they did a bad job, but they didn't look the part. John was supposed to be fifteen years old, just a sophomore in high school, and he looked like he should be a sophomore or older in COLLEGE. Personally, I pictured him being a little less muscular, a LOT less popular, and obviously much younger.
Henri should have been older and in my opinion, bigger. Not like fat, but just big. Also, he and John needed to be much closer to each other.
Sarah just wasn't what I pictured. I'm not sure how to describe how she looked, but something was off for me in her character. Also, she was supposed to be more popular in general. As for her personality, she should have been less mysterious and more outgoing, friendly, and open about her feelings.
Number Six wasn't the worst character, but she was trying to be way to cool/sexy. I definitely pictured her on that side of the spectrum, but it was overdone. She needed to be more normal and a little less rude.
That is about it for me ranting on characters.
I am really frustrated that they gave NO back-story on Lorien. John and Henri were supposed to have the dreams about it as well as frequently talk about it. Also, the two had very little training time, and John lacked a few legacies....that was a very bad mistake.
The fact that Henri died early really bothered me, but not as much as if would have if they actually developed him as a character in the movie to make the viewer actually care about him! In the book I was crushed, but in the movie I didn't really care.
Aside from the whole story being rushed, and the movie could have added another 45 minutes without being too long, my main disappointment was the final battle with the Mogadorians. The only thing I liked about the way they were portrayed were the awesome coats. Those are exactly what I pictured, but as for the weird tatoos and nose slits, I'm not buying it. I saw them as big, and still probably bald, but their eyes to me were dark and they had big red marks around their eyes, like they got punched really hard by some tough Lorien. And their monsters were pathetic. Honestly?!?!?! They were big, mutant bats! To me, they were like giant, three-story tall humanoid beasts that were incredibly strong but not particularly smart or agile. And Bernie Kosar was supposed to be a giant lizard if I remember correctly. The whole fight scene was WAY too short and left out a TON. This could have made the movie, but they messed it up.
Closing Thoughts
When I left the movie, I really thought it was okay, as a movie. As I sit here and remember all of the things they screwed up, I am liking it less and less. Many things that I didn't even mention for the sake of time were left out of the movie or just not explained. I think that someone who hasn't read the book would be a little confused, and those that have will be disappointed. Will I watch it again? Yeah, most likely. I love the story enough that even a messed up variation makes me happy, but I would rather just get the next book.
Hope you enjoyed the post, and please tell me what you thought of the movie!
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