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I Am Number Four
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (9th July 2011). |
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The Film
 I was going to start this review off with a diatribe about how annoying it is to see a Hollywood film with a great concept and solid potential completely ruin what might’ve been the basis for a fresh new franchise. But after reading the synopsis of the book this film was based on, I can’t understand why anyone thought this would be a surefire hit. The premise is interesting, if not wholly unoriginal, with children from a destroyed planet sent to Earth as the last of their kind. Each one has a protector with them, and with age they begin to develop special powers unique to each other. The alien race which wiped out their race, the Mogadorians, has traced them to Earth and is killing them all in sequential order. I don’t know exactly how that sequence was chosen, but it’s there. With each new death, a “scar” is imprinted on the remaining survivor’s leg. My point is that there’s a helluva lot of detail to take in here, and from what I’ve seen and read it just sounds like everyone was trying far too hard to create something original out of an unoriginal idea. I realize that truly original ideas are like unicorns in Hollywood, but I’ve grown tired of these origin films full of endless amounts of exposition, mythos, lore, legend, history and everything else that comes with trying to cram old ideas down moviegoers’ throats. “I Am Number Four” (2011) was supposed to be the start of a new franchise, but the dismal box office returns and poor critical response has likely thwarted that attempt. I think a big part of the problem was casting Alex Pettyfer in the lead as John Smith (way to blend in with that alias!). The guy looks like someone cut him out of a J. Crew catalog; appropriate, since he possesses as much charisma as a rolled up newspaper. Is this how aliens from another planet look? I could maybe give them a pass by explaining he wears some kind of elaborate disguise or something, but am I supposed to believe there was a planet out there in the cosmos inhabited by ridiculously good-looking extraterrestrials? Regardless, the guy excels at looking all angst-y and brooding, but he has zero range. I don’t know how bad the other actors who auditioned for this role must’ve been because Pettyfer is the epitome of flat, bland acting. The other major obstacle in the way of this series’ future is the story itself. From what little I read on Wikipedia, it sounds like the writers took many liberties with the source material, changing a great deal for the feature film. Even more puzzling, the novel was only published recently (as in last year, 2010), so they weren’t exactly beholden to the storylines that are going to follow it. I was reminded of “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” (2010), another marginally original film that was based on a novel. Both films suffered from the fact that their inaugural entry was little more than a set-up for future tales, leaving viewers with more questions than answers. I’m surprised the filmmakers didn’t realize that nothing is ever a sure bet in Hollywood, so making a film that is essentially all groundwork for future entries is probably going to backfire. You need to do more to get the audience invested, and throwing a bunch of shit at the screen and hoping it sticks well enough to pull out a solid domestic take at the box office isn’t going to cut it. Timothy Olyphant was the best thing about this film, even if his role was a thankless one. As John’s protector, he’s in charge of teaching him all about his powers, people, how to survive… that sort of thing. I figured the protectors of these alien kids would be badasses or something, but if anything the film makes it seem like they’re one notch above a mall security guard in terms of how much ass they can kick. Hell, in the opening one protector gets wiped out easily, and later on Number Six remarks that hers was killed as well. I give the man a great deal of credit for selling some god awful dialogue, and for doing it all without a hint of irony. He’s always been a solid actor. I think it was important that at least one member of the cast was able to add some weight, otherwise this film might have just floated off into space based on the work of everyone else. I’ve read reviews that have stated Number Six (Teresa Palmer) is the real star here, but she isn’t given enough screen time to justify that response. She kicks a lot of ass, and she’s got a much greater handle on her powers than John, but we don’t see much of her (aside from a horrible explosion) until the film’s final 20 minutes. But she does do a lot of damage in that small amount of time. As she says in the film, once her protector was killed she decided to hunt down the Mogadorians instead of it being the other way around. That sounds like a more intriguing film to me – an alien on another planet hunting down those trying to kill it, instead of the same old “on the run” film we got here. With Number Six’s arrival, however, there are more questions than answers, and considering how poorly the film was received those who did like the film may have to hope the planned novels can wrap up some of those loose ends.
Video
Surprise, surprise… the 1.85:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image is stellar, as is just about every major new release from Disney. There’s a lot of eye candy here, but what I loved seeing the most were the sunlit fields and woodsy environments of Paradise, Ohio (in reality, Pennsylvania). I love movies that take place in small, close-knit towns since they always have such a rich, lived-in appearance full of tiny details and Americana imagery. The opening’s Florida scenes look wonderful – the blue hue of the ocean is vividly bright matched with the white sandy beaches. Primary colors are exemplary, with everything from John’s mystery box to the red blast of the Mogadorians’ guns shining on screen. I became less impressed by the nighttime scenes, particularly the haunted house hay ride where there was a lot of action, but the details were almost completely lost to the shadows. The black levels weren’t an issue – they’re perfectly pitch – but everything else tends to get sucked up in them. Other than that minor offense, this is a highly detailed image with some excellent clarity. There’s no evidence of any sort of digital manipulation that would get Blu-ray enthusiasts riled up.
Audio
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit is a bit of a beast. Right from the start, there are some great effects which utilize the rear speakers – waves rolling in on the Florida beaches, the sounds of the jungle – so I knew this was going to be a track with some great dynamics. We don’t get anything massive for the majority of the film, save for a single, terrible explosion courtesy of Number Six. There are a couple fights and a few bursts of John’s powers to keep things interesting, but once we get to the finale is where the track (much like the film) shows some serious signs of life. Mogadorian gun blasts punish the track with repeated rounds, Number Six unleashes a furious barrage of kicks, slices and explosions, the beast fight sounds like it has some real weight to it… and everything culminates in a massive blast that will seriously rumble your system. Dialogue is finely balanced alongside all of the action, so don’t think that all those precious lines will be buried in the mix. On a semi-related note, this movie has some of the worst music I’ve heard in ages. Is this what kids listen to now? I realize that question makes me sound old, but hearing some of this tripe in lossless audio made me want to scramble for the mute button. French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound tracks are included. Subtitles are available in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
I’m a bit surprised Disney didn’t pile on the bonus features for this dud. Even when films underperform, the norm seems to be for the home video release to get a nice slate of extras in an effort to entice buyers. That’s not the case here, as all we get are a few deleted scenes, a featurette on one character, some bloopers and a collection of bonus trailers. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY The main extra – exclusive to this Blu-ray release – is a handful of deleted scenes (1080p), each of which is preceded by a short introduction from director D.J. Caruso explaining why it was excised. - “Extended Strangers in Paradise” runs for 2 minutes and 16 seconds, more footage of John looking at Sarah’s online photo collage. - “Sam’s Mom” runs for 4 minutes and 21 seconds, Henri meets Sam’s mother (Karen Allen) when he goes to his house looking for clues about his father. - “Worth Mentioning” runs for 1 minute and 21 seconds, this is just an extra line between John & Henri after an incident at school. - “Power Prank” runs for 2 minutes and 19 seconds, John has some fun with his newfound powers. - “Trying to Connect” runs for 2 minutes and 22 seconds, John struggles to find himself. - “Extended Warsaw Basement” runs for 4 minutes and 50 seconds, extra footage of the alien baddies interrogating their human helpers after John & Henri escape. “Becoming Number Six” (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Spend some time with Number Six as we learn how she trained to kick so much ass during her small amount of screen time. Bonus: she looks great doing it. A reel of bloopers (1080p) runs for 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Bonus trailers (1080p) are included for the following releases: - “Real Steel” runs for 1 minute and 39 seconds. - “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” runs for 2 minutes and 47 seconds. - “ABC Shows on DVD” spot runs for 1 minute and 18 seconds. There’s also an extra listed titled “Info”… which leads you to a single static page reminding us that Disney isn’t responsible for the views of the extra’s participants. Great, thanks for the reminder. And for listing is among the bonus materials. DISC TWO: DVD This is a DVD copy of the feature film. It includes the “Becoming Number Six” featurette and blooper reel extra features. DISC THREE: Here’s the digital copy of the film for use with both Windows and Apple portable devices.
Packaging
The 3-disc set comes housed in Disney’s standard robust casing. There’s a slipcover with some shine to it that replicates the cover art found beneath. I like how Disney packages their releases – good, sturdy cases with none of that eco crap.
Overall
I enjoyed some of director Caruso’s prior films, even if they weren’t entirely memorable, but this was just so bland and lifeless that I couldn’t get myself into it. Almost no one gives a decent performance, and the action takes so long to really get going that once it does most people will have checked out by that point. This had the makings of a film that could have been a lot more fun, but it spends so much time wrapped up in mythology and information that viewers are likely to feel fatigue before the hour mark.
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