Title:  I Am Number Four
Genre:  Fantasy/Science Fiction
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some language

My rating:  B+

Being one of those people who likes to read the book before seeing the movie, I usually cannot help comparing the two.  If they don't make too many changes or if the changes aren't drastic, I can enjoy the movie, despite loving the book so much.  I Am Number Four received a B+ from me, not because they changed things, but because the movie had too many plot holes and seemed much to rushed.

Of course there were a couple of changes, most of which I considered no big deal.  But there was one change that just irked me throughout the whole movie.  In the books, John's protector and mentor Henri is a very different person; he's much kinder and loving, treating John as if he really was his son.  John looks up to him and thinks of him as a father.  In the movie, John and Henri have a tense relationship, with Henri being very strict and gruff and John being very disrespectful.  I was able to handle every other change, both minor and major, but the change to Henri's character was the one that I couldn't get past.  It made Henri's self-sacrifice in the end seem less emotional and touching than it should have been.

But the main problem with the movie was just how much they rushed it.  Most movies now are at least two hours long, so why they cut this one short is beyond me.  If they'd just added on an extra fifteen minutes, they could have filled some of the plot holes or kept the movie from feeling too hurried.  B+