Critters 4 (1992)

 

Nope, this really isn't the charm, this fourth entry. Not very surprising, as the third one was also mediocre at best but here they really didn't invest any semblance of interest. 

Ah well, figures. 

As with all franchises that run on too long, they eventually head into space. Even the Leprechaun and Jason Voorhees have been to space. But the Crites are aliens anyway, so it's more of a homecoming of sorts. 

Charlie finds the last two Crite eggs and just before he blasts them, gets a warning from the intergalactic council that he can't destroy them as they are the last two anywhere. He has to place them in a pod, but gets stuck and the pod flies off into outer space, freezing him. Fast forward about 50 years and the pod is picked up by a salvage crew looking for a paycheck. 

They don't know what's in the damn thing, but the captain opens it anyway and so frees Charlie and two Crites, who almost immediately start to lay new eggs and plot a course for Earth. 

I never understood how Crites are so omniscient straight out of the egg. I mean, they're babies. How would they know to head to Earth, let alone talk and plot? The film doesn't care, that much is clear. 

Now it's a race to destroy the Crites, as the decrepit space station is close to blowing up thanks to a faulty reactor.

Hey: they checked another cliché box. Go figure. 

There is a subplot about how the Crites modify themselves to become apex predators with some wonky research project on board the station, but this plot thread never goes anywhere so it's best forgotten. Not only that, but for a film about the Crites this film doesn't Critter all that much. In fact, they're barely in this at all. I don't need to explain why this sucks, right?

Bizarrely, this film boasts some decent actors: Angela Bassett in an early role and Brad Dourif who once again nails it, but most of the cast is pretty forgettable. The actor playing the creepy captain is just weird and feels out of place, and the young boy who is the focal point is about as charismatic as an empty sheet of paper. Don Opper reprises his role as Charlie, but he is mostly just there. Oh, and the final confrontation with Ug (also a returning Terence Mann) is a slap in the face of everything that has come before and they pooh-pooh it away with the horrendous line: "Things change. People change."

Egad. 

Stick to the first two entries in the series, as they are by far the best. 3 is okay but silly and this one is just boring without any focus on the Crites, which is stupid as they are the biggest draw anyway.