I didn’t know much about the plot of “I Am Number Four” before seeing it. The trailers only told me to expect explosions, two overly attractive teenagers making googly eyes at each other and the unfortunate misplacement of an Adele song. After seeing it, I can pretty much say that’s exactly what I got. 

I did learn, however, that the film was adapted from a young adult novel of the same title, which was actually published after DreamWorks bought the rights to it. I have not read the book, but judging from the fact it was always intended to become this movie, I can’t imagine it to be all that interesting. 

John (Alex Pettyfer) is the hero of the film. He’s athletic and charming and all the ladies want him, but he also has a secret that forces him and his guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), to frequently relocate across the country in fear of being killed.  

But who would want to kill this highly attractive young man, you ask? Evil space aliens called Mogadorians, that’s who. And they’re after John because he’s an alien, too, more specifically one of nine special teenage aliens who have the capability of saving their home planet Lorien from evildoers like the Mogs. How they plan to save it? That’s never entirely clear. 

But John and Henri decide to pack up and move to the quaint town of Paradise, Ohio to throw off the Mogs, who have succeeded in killing three of the nine good aliens already, with John being their next target. They pose as father and son, and Henri tells John to blend in, but of course he can’t do that, because he’s too busy making friends with UFO fanatic and regular bully target Sam (Callan McAuliffe), and catching the eye of the most beautiful girl in school Sarah, played by “Glee” star Dianna Agron. 

As expected, John and Sarah begin to hit it off, their “love” reminiscent of “Twilight’s” paranormal power couple, Edward and Bella. But this hackneyed storyline isn’t the only thing that makes “I Am Number Four” forgettable. 

Pettyfer acts with minimal range, and the film plays up his good looks. He can brood and smirk and that’s about it, and John’s story is equally one-dimensional. For instance, we never exactly learn why he gets powers when he does or how they can do the things they do; they simply show up out of the blue. The same goes for why the Mogs want to destroy Lorien and the nine teenagers who can protect it. Just because they can? Explanations are not this movie’s strong suit. 

With Michael Bay as a producer, “I Am Number Four” ultimately sticks to his status quo: plenty of nifty action sequences that could have been entertaining if it weren’t for the vapid performances and plot. Unfortunately, the end of “I Am Number Four” was left wide open for a potential sequel, but I can safely say that is one movie I will be skipping.