This film produces some mystery, as the character known as John (Alex Pettyfer), who is posing as a high school student, is also known as Number Four, and attempting to avoid an enemy seeking to destroy him. The three before him didn’t make it. He is from the planet Lorien and the Mogadorians have destroyed his world and followed him to earth. He finds himself in Ohio and falling in love. He states sadly that it is a terrible thing for Lorien’s last survivors including him to be the last. An interesting element about his number and predicament is that nine have to be finished off and in order.
The film, theme-wise, urges the viewer to think about extra-terrestrial life, and to also recognize how bullies cause a lot of harm and pain. If the film successfully makes people think about such things, that is good. Unfortunately, the methods used to tell this story in film also contains strong language, including biblical profanity, and we see teen drinking. Although the film does not applaud this as normal, neither does it really preach against it, a mistake we believe. Teen drinking and deaths are an all-too-real problem.
At any rate, there are some “jump” scenes, scenes which suddenly occur, which might frighten some viewers. Due to the strong language in the movie and the teen drinking, we cannot award our Dove Seal to this film.
