What I like about the movie is that the Critters are back in this supercharged sci-fi space adventure! But these are no ordinary Critters they've a super strain of genetically engineered mutants designed to take over the universe. This time they've hungry to conquer the galaxy, with an appetite for mankind that's out of this world. There are scenes where a malfunctioning computer traps a character in an elevator, characters are nearly jettisoned into space from a garbage disposal, malfunctioning doors force characters to climb through access panels, there's an attempted rape from a drunken ship captain, the lingering threat of a nuclear core meltdown
even the climax of the film fails to account for the Critters, as the big moment is a standoff between Charlie and Ug.
And can you believe how many "good" actors have appeared throughout the Critters franchise? Everything from popular voice actors (Scott Grimes) to scream queens (Dee Wallace) to niche personalities (Eddie Deezen) to Broadway superstars (Terrance Mann) to talented character actors (Brad Dourif) to motherfucking Leonardo DiCaprio. And that's not even getting to Billy Zane, M. Emmet Walsh or Angela Bassett, all of whom have offered celebrated performances in their time. And even the actors who didn't go on to become big names are all highly competent; there really isn't a performance in any of these movies that made me want to pull my hair out. Call it an act of providence, but the Critters series is more than solidly cast from beginning to end and that's.. that's just phenomenal, considering the material we're discussing.
Anyhow, Critters 4 had the resources to be a good Critters movie, but it didn't want to be a Critters movie, so it wound up just sort of amounting to nothing. There are good moments sprinkled about the film and I enjoyed the stuff with Charlie and Ug, but most of it is just boring and frustrating.
Overall rating: 4 out of 10.
