I Am Number Four MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -2

Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer. Sci-Fi action fantasy. Written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Marti Noxon. Directed by J. D. Caruso.

FILM SYNOPSIS: A young man, John Smith, is a fugitive on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. Turns out, he’s not from our world. He’s being chased by beings from another planet determined to eliminate him from any world. Changing his identity, moving from town to town with his guardian Henri, John is always the new kid with no ties to his past. In the small Ohio town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events -- his first love, powerful new abilities and a connection to the others who share his incredible destiny.

PREVIEW REVIEW: Though it has nothing to do with werewolves or love-sick vampires, it attempts to cash-in on the Twilight franchise. It concerns an alien boy who falls for a human girl. He’s from E.T. territory, she’s from Ohio. He’s being hunted by creatures resembling the next generation of Klingons, and she fusses about having to live in small town U.S.A.

John soon finds he’s got to protect his new high school sweet-sixteen-year-old and save planet Earth from the menacing invaders who devoured his homeland and soon intend to do the same to the third rock from the sun. And few earthlings have a clue as to what’s going on.

It’s no Alien, no Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it does hold our attention. It’s darkly lit and noisy, but the story progresses at a rapid rate and has some repeatable lines. Will teens find the leads as charismatic as Twilight’s Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson? We’ll see. Oh, yes, we will see, for the film closes with an unmistakable sequel in mind.

I know it will sound corny to teenagers to complain about the language as they hear it on a daily basis in school. The “s-word” is the new “darn it” and it’s difficult to find a film aimed at any age range that doesn’t disrespect Christ’s name. But it does frustrate me when screenwriters and actors are limited with their vocabulary. And Jesus is the Son of God who died so we could have an Eternal relationship with the Creator of all. Just doesn’t seem right to treat His name like an expletive to relieve frustration. Does it?

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: DreamWorks Studios