On the road still: Katsucon, day 2

The con shut down today, so I didn't really see much of it. I missed playing Halo: Reach in the videogame room, but that's about all that happened today that I might have joined.

We headed out in the late afternoon to see I Am Number Four. I went to see it despite having read the rather damning review from the redoubtable Charlie Jane Anders, whose work I generally adore. My motivation was simple: to determine if I could find so generic a film entertaining?

The answer, to my immense discredit, is, yes. I had a pleasant enough time, though everything Anders wrote is spot on.

I do, though, feel more than a little bit guilty about it. I don't want this movie to make a billion bucks--a fear I share with Anders--nor do I want it to spawn the sequel that its ending so blatantly sets up. It really is formulaic and largely soulless, as you would expect from James Frey's factory farm, a depressing concept if I've ever heard one.

I write SF adventure novels, and I'd love to see someone make them into movies, so it's not like I'm against the concept or the sub-genre. I would, though, like them to possess enough individuality and real characters that viewers could come away feeling from them both entertained and enlightened.

This movie might entertain you, but that's the most it will do, and it will do that only if you, as I did, forgive the completely formulaic plot and leads. Just remember to wash up afterward, and then go read a good book.