“I Am Number Four” was originally a science-fiction novel written by Pittacus Lore. If you think Mr. Lore’s parents were trying to be mean, don’t worry: “Pittacus Lore” is the pen name of the authors, James Frey and Jobie Hughes. The book went on sale August 3, 2010, and the movie came out February 18, 2011.

I had not heard much about the movie before I watched it. Aside from a poster seen on the sides of SamTrans buses, I didn’t know anything other than the name. It wasn’t until Skyline’s four-day weekend that I looked it up. Out of a lot of the other new releases I researched, such as “Unknown” and “Gnomeo and Juliet,” “I Am Number Four” intrigued me the most.

We follow a boy known as Number Four. He’s had to go by a number of aliases, and his most recent one, which is what he’s called by throughout most of the movie, is the ever-so-original “John Smith.” John is one of nine youths that have escaped their planet, the home of the Loriens, after it was attacked by a race known as the Mogadorians. These nine Loriens were special, the only ones who could possibly rise against the Mogadorians once they were old enough. John and his Lorien guardian, Henri, travel from place to place trying to hide from the Mogadorians, eventually coming to the movie’s main location: Paradise, Ohio.

John Smith is played by Alex Pettyfer. Pettyfer started his acting career back in 2005, and his first big break came with the 2006 movie “Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker.” We can all see Pettyfer again in the future as he stars with Vanessa Hudgens in the new movie “Beastly,” scheduled to be released later in March.

One thing I’m curious about is the Mogadorians’ way of “finishing the job.” It appears that they don’t want to leave annihilating an entire race incomplete, since they continue to hunt John and his fellow Loriens here on Earth. By the start of the movie, they have already killed the first two and take out Number 3 in the introduction. But why is it that they’re killing them off in numerical order? Is there a certain significance to it, or are they just being obsessive-compulsive?

The movie itself was well worth the watch. It had great action sequences, good character chemistry, and it definitely left itself open for a sequel. I must warn you that it is not a movie for the faint of heart, though. John and one of his new friends, Sarah, go through a fairly grisly haunted house at a local fair, and when a couple of large alien-monster-things fight, one of them emerges victorious by biting into the other’s throat. Although even that second scene is not as gruesome as a lot of what’s out there, it’s still good to give people a fair warning.

I definitely recommend this movie to both fans of the book and those who just want a good sci-fi movie to watch. The story certainly piqued my interest, and I will definitely watch out for any movie titles that may look like a sequel to it.