I Am Number 4
By: Sabur Khan
Introduction
In my opinion both the book and the movie were great. I think that the story that Pittacus Lore illustrated was brilliant. The idea of aliens being refugees that are being hunted and destroyed is brilliant. The way the ideas in the book and the movie are incorporated wants me to actually keep on reading the book and keep on anticipating events for the next movie. Even though they are both good, they have their differences.
Similarities
The book and the movie essentially had the same plot which is the arrival of nine aliens from a colonized planet called Lorraine which was taken over by an alien species which had totally colonized and eliminated all the people from the planet Lorraine. There were nine survivors that evacuated to Earth, three have been found and killed and the fourth is left. This is his story. The other thing similar was the starting off by describing number three's death. The book had an amazing start as it described the death of number three, the movie kept that as an amazing intro to draw up the emotions of the audience the way it should have. A third similarity is that in both the book and the movie, Sam's father (Malcolm Goode) was a greeter in both books and he had shared interests with his son Sam who later on wants to find his father.
The Movie might not be as good as the Book! But don't judge!
Differences
I personally think that the book had better qualities to it in comparison to that of the movie. An example of these qualities can only be seen through the differences between the two. One of the greatest differences between the two pieces of literature is that in the book, Number four had a different set of powers in comparison to that of the movie. In the book one of his powers (legacies) was the ability to communicate with animals as well as to be fire resistant. However in the movie it was actually Number six who had the ability to be fire resistant, as for the ability to communicate with animals? It was not even mentioned. Another difference is seen within the character Sam Goode who appears to be more passionate about space and his dad's passions in the book in comparison to that of the movie. This is shown through his portrayal in the book which had him wearing his father's glasses and a NASA shirt where as in the movie he was doing neither of the two things from the book. The last difference I will talk about is the relationship between Henri and Number four. The book portrays the relationship between guardian and the number in a much more closer sense in comparison to the movie.Henri and Number four have a really close bond which makes the death of Henri have a greater affect on Number four. The movie failed to portray that emotional bond.
I am Number Four - Official Trailer [HD]
Closing thoughts
Overall I liked the book and the movie a lot. They were both good in their separate ways. But if you are to compare the two I would personally say that the book takes priority over the movie. However I think if we distinguish the two from each other and great them as two different things then you will enjoy the best of both!