I find that I generally do no like movies that are based on books for the simple fact that the movie typically differs significantly from the book. I am Number 4 follows that rule, but the movie is still enjoyable. It is really hard for me to say which I liked better overall because each had certain parts that were better. If forced, I would have to say that I liked the book only slightly better, because the story line was a bit more engaging and realistic (yes, I am saying a fantasy book can be realistic).
Unlike many books turned into movies, for the whole first half of the movie, I was really excited- they were being pretty much the same. John didn't get picked on quite as much and the romantic aspect of his relationship is emphasized a bit more in the movie than the book, but otherwise pretty close. I did really like that we saw Number 6 earlier in the movie than in the book. While Sam in the movie is great, I liked how geeky he was in the book and wished that this would have been played up a little more.After about the halfway point in the movie, things started to go really off course from the movie. It bothered me that Sam didn't get his girlfriend like in the book. I also really didn't like that Sam didn't introduce John and Henri to the alien newsletter. It seemed a little more believable that geeky, space obsessed Sam would have been subscribing to it than that Henri just found it. I also didn't really like that Mark James and John didn't become friends until the end of the book. I like seeing their relationship change from that of enemies, to acquaintances, and finally to friends. It made for some very interesting scenes in the book that were left out of the movie. My biggest complain about the movie though is that the battle between the Loriens and the Mogadorians was not nearly as impressive as it could have been. Yes, it was interesting, but with some of John's legacies lacking, little involvement from Mark and Sarah, and Henri dying so early, it changed the feel of the battle. It made it seem as though it were really just the Loriens against the Mogarodians instead of the Loriens and their Earth friends against the Mogardians. While I can understand that this was done because it was a Disney movie and the kids have to do all the brave cool stuff in Disney movies, it was a let down. I also didn't like that there was not a lot of the backstory about how the Loriens wound up on Earth that was mentioned in the book. It would have made things a bit easier to understand for people who hadn't read the book. I understand why it was omitted though, because you can only cram so much into a movie and still expect people to watch the entire thing and not get bored.
There were some things that I did like better about the movie than the book though. I loved being introduced to Number 6 early on. If I hadn't already read the book, I would have really been wondering who she was. While she was cool in the book, she was absolutely bad-ass in the movie. Loved her whole attitude of can't mess with me. I also really liked how the Mogadorians looked in the movie. I'd had a lot of trouble imagining how they looked while reading the book since it never really had good descriptions. I also liked that the movie made it a little easier to figure out that John's pet dog was also the lizard that he had while he was living in the Keys. While it was a puzzle that I enjoyed figuring out while reading the book, it was neat to see the lizard change into a dog and know that it was going to play some kind of special role at some point.
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