I can imagine that after the success of destroying the Crites, the Council appointed him a position, and then he eventually did what Palpentine did in the Star Wars films in order to ascend to the highest position because he got too greedy and take over the Council to form a new ruling order, wiping out the old Council in the process. Though why he became the bad guy is really the problem. In Critters 2, he was still in mourning when he saved the day and took the visage of Charlie so for him to come back as the big bad is something needing an explantion because there wasn't enough in terms of character exploration in the first two films to logically draw his dark path out. I believe the audience should be left to think for themselves, but there was too big a gap.
As for plotholes - Well, I've touched upon some of them in my previous post, but to go into more detail:
In Part 2, the Council notified the bounty hunters that they detected remaining Crite life. So, how did the whole mess in Part 3 start? Did more Crites land, or were they left over? If the later, then wouldn't the Council have gotten their asses on that before beeming up Ug, which we can presume started his rise to power? That's the biggest hole I can find, aside from the inexplicable change in the Ug character.
Also, was Charlie still Sheriff of Grover's Bend (I keep thinking of Grover's Mill)? Yes, he was wearing the uniform, but did he just start chasing after the critters because he was too obsessed, or did the town vote him out and let him keep the uniform out of pity? It was nice that they acknowledged this, but kind of left a question mark.
Another one I just realized is how Crites could be tested on in Part 4. Based on the first two films, we can assume that the species's existence was limted to Earth. So just how did Terracor manage to russle up some more from an otherwise extinct species?
Also, more puzzling is that the crew of the ship are aware of the Old Council, which means that the whole Terracor thing was formed some time in the 53 years between periods, so how did Ug manage to convince the Council (who always seemed nervous about the Crites from the very beginning) to protect the Crites about the time that they would still have been running things back when he wanted Charlie to put the eggs in the pod?
Like I said, they should and could have just dumped the major plot of Part 3 and expanded Part 4's plot over the course of two films. The could have still set Part 3 in the present and then set Part 4 in the future. All they had to do was take things up from the end of Part 2, combine with the details of Part 3 that concern the plot of the fourth film and things could have been better explained and built upon when they rolled out Part 4. They just throw everything on the table in Part 4 with next to no set-up, and that has long bugged me. I'd like for the gap to be told if they ever make another one. Hell, I'd settle for it being written in comic book format (like Kevin Smith's Chasing Dogma, which told of the events between films).
It's been a while since I've seen it so none of the details are fresh in my memory, but I recall that the ship they were a salvage crew. Though, I'm not sure what they were doing exactly before they discovered the pod.
----
Formless, faithless, and free.
reply
share
TooN_DeMentIa
20 years ago
Another one I just realized is how Crites could be tested on in Part 4.
As far as I understood, it was NOT crites they were testing on. They didn't specify what it was but it didn't look like a crite. I can only guess that it was some form of artificially created being and they were trying to make it breed on its own, thus creating a creature similar to the crites. That's probably why they were so happy when the pod with the eggs was found, because then they would finally have what they were trying to create.
Another thing is why the station was empty when they arrived. We can assume it was the creatures they were experimenting on but there are no apparent signs of any kind of combat or any hungry creatures. The only clue is that not so informative video clip. It could be that the core had failed and they all evacuated, but then why didn't Terracor know about it...
And at last: Why did the pod get "lost" in the first place...
As implied earlyer here, it just seems to me like the makers just wanted so bad to fit it all into a predefined alien like plot that they didn't care to explain much. And trying to analyze it all will probably not come to any decent conclusion.
reply
share
blasteel979
19 years ago
If you are talking about the creature that they found on the video on the Teracore ID, then no. If you listen you can see that they created that creature so they can see if it can reproduce enough to have them wipe out a planet for them to take over. Counseler Tetra wanted the Krites for this reason...They would be perfect for taking over a planet, and they can use them until Teracore can create a creature better for the job.
reply
share
spywatcher459
19 years ago
Lee, Ug's partner in the first two Critters seemed like friends. They were inseperable and in the second Critters movie, Lee was ambused by the Krites and chewed up. When Ug saw this, he went ballistic and was unable to mantain his 'Johnny Steele' form. Do you think losing Lee could have had anything to do with his different personality change? Or is it something else? Personally, I think losing Lee really messed with Ug's head.
reply
share
rowla
19 years ago
Yes. Tetra IS Ug. I don't think the writers wanted us to think anything else. They just executed the whole thing really badly. But if you want to get technical, here's the proof:
Ug knew Charlie's name and verified that he was once his friend by saying that "Things change".
He also said:
"You can't do it Charlie. You never could".
I think this quote really does make it clear that it is indeed Ug. He is referring to the fact that when he and Charlie were fellow bounty hunters, Charlie never had the courage to make a kill.
As for him still looking like Johnny Steele, well, as someone already mentioned on this thread, Ug just happens to like that particular "self". He touches on this fact in Critters 2 when Charlie asks him why looks he like Johnny Steele when Lee just stays a nothing-face. Ug then explains that Lee remains a nothing-face until he finds the right self. This obviously means that Ug has already found his own "right self" in the form of Johnny Steele. Get it?
So there you have it. Tetra IS Ug.
Well / think so anyway....
reply
share
spywatcher459
19 years ago
Okay. But still, is it possible that losing Lee had anything to do with it?
reply
share
Flowtac
18 years ago
It wasn't Ug's decision to let the critters live at first. Remember, it was a guideline already put in place by the Intergalatic Council. But I do think after all those years with what happened and with him being put higher into power, Ug let it all go to his head.
I do like Critters 4 quite a bit. I thought it was a huge improvement over the third film. It went for more of a serious/atmospheric route which I liked. Also, it took chances with some of the characters for once. Notice how there were these protective shields around most of the main characters in the first three? Well, in this one, we actually do lose a main character despite being good natured. I actually cheered that it took a chance for once. Also, the characters that are also chomped weren't complete bad egg stereotypes or just complete fodder either which was a huge relief.
I just wish they had expanded upon some things in the film and not the same kind of things other people were beckoning for. It seemed like there was some new angle to the critters that was to be introduced that was left on the cutting room floor. For example, when Charlie mentions the fact that the crites don't usually back down from a fight or a meal, it seemed like it was hinting at a change in the Critter's nature that has never been seen. Either that or it was a missed opportunity.
The film also didn't capitalize on some choice moments. For one, when Charlie and Ethan are in the waste disposal, they could have actually added some genuine suspense to it by having a crite attack them in there while trying to escape before getting dumped into space. I would have loved to have seen that. Not to mention, why didn't the crites use their poisonous spikes in this one? It would have also been nice to see the movie grow some more balls and have Charlie get killed by the crites after taking out Ug. Not saying Charlie should die but it would have made for a more intense experience I think. Besides, his character was kid of running stale by now
What really bugged me about the movie though was some of the absurd comedy with the computer. Some parts were humorous while others were just grating. Same goes for Charlie. At times, he seems very alert and serious. Then he suddenly becomes a complete buffon at other times for no apparent reason. And the ending... Urgh, that damned ending. I don't know why they ended the movie on such a camp note when the rest of the movie plays it fairly serious. That really annoyed me. It felt out of place and too childish.
Besides that, I really enjoyed this one. But it disappoints me that they didn't market the movie as playing it a lot more serious than previous entries. The trailer for the movie is TERRIBLE. It makes it look like a different movie entirely.
reply
share
logray-2
18 years ago
I think Tetra is NOT UG.
He's simply one of them aliens that can take over appearance.
Meaning Tetra (not UG) took over the appearance of johnny steele (same as UG)
just as a tactical move,
so people encountered who were involved with the lifepod containing the last two eggs,
could be set at ease so to speak.
So it wasn't UG..
tetra just said "things change" to charlie just because charlie gave him that information (that they knew eachother)
And the moron could not see it was in fact not UG. I woul dheva done the same thing Letting charlie believe it was UG.
Anyway I didnt mean any of this ofcourse, just as well you guys didnt mean anything of these specualtions, right?
How can you know for sure unless stated in one of the episodes wich it didnt
anyway?
We could however all collectively write another critters 5
that could try and tie all the loos ends together, just like lucas did with
episodes 1, 2, 3 about 4, 5 & 6 (only much better...)
This krites 4 sucked. Who wrote it anyway?
Liked angela basset though....
"Gravity cannot be held responsible
for people falling in love.."
reply
share
18 years ago
[deleted]
Slainmonkey
15 years ago
Earth is a pretty backwater planet....the intergalactic terrorists motives sound weak to me
reply
share
skizzie72-1
14 years ago
i was 10 when i saw this film, and i knew then that it was ug. if it wasnt,then the only other idea (albeit far fetched) was that the beings on ug's planet share the same consciousness and so technically if u met one, you met em all in that they'd "remember" things that happened with charlie and brad and everyone else in the town
IM RUNNIN THIS MONKEY FARM NOW FRANKENSTEIN! AND I WANNA KNOW WHAT THE F&$K UR DOIN WITH MY TIME!
reply
share
Bag_of_Cancer
14 years ago
That'd be fine and I would have agreed with it had I not seen this little bit in someone's post above:
"You can't do it Charlie. You never could".
I think this quote really does make it clear that it is indeed Ug. He is referring to the fact that when he and Charlie were fellow bounty hunters, Charlie never had the courage to make a kill.
That kind of just changes my entire perspective on the matter. Unless Ug had somebody he told about his experiences with Charlie, there's no way anybody else could have known Charlie never had balls.
reply
share
fibreoptic
13 years ago
I'm not sure if it is Ug, i think it is otherwise we would have been shown something to the contrary before the movie finished. However, Fran yelled Charlie's name just before Tetra used it. This identified who Charlie was to Tetra aka Ug.
reply
share
Bag_of_Cancer
13 years ago
I'm not sure if it is Ug, i think it is otherwise we would have been shown something to the contrary before the movie finished. However, Fran yelled Charlie's name just before Tetra used it. This identified who Charlie was to Tetra aka Ug.
That wouldn't explain why he talked to Charlie the way he did. It couldn't have been just a lucky guess.
As far as I know, Don Opper stated that was the plan for Ug all along. If you don't believe me, go to Critters Rehatched and check it out.
reply
share
hurricanehorton
12 years ago
I watched this film for the first time on New Year's Eve, and I have another theory.
Charlie did kill Critters in the second film. He crashed a ship into them shouting; "I'm a Bounty Hunter!" Why did Ug not remember this? He was there. And it was his ship.
Also, remember Charlie said at the start of the film; "Everybody I know is dead!" Could Tetra be somebody who was born and grew up after Ug, but had some knowledge of who Ug was? Maybe a relative of Ug, or just somebody young who knew Ug's legend. Ug could have been long dead by the time of Critters 4, even if he was the one who gave the original message to Charlie at the end of the third film.
Or in other words, is it not possible this person was not Ug, but had some knowledge that Bounty Hunters had been sent to Earth to kill Critters, and one had impersonated a famous pop star whilst there? It was of course never explained who this was, but if there was another bounty hunter who knew of Ug and his Johnny Steele persona, but didn't know that Charlie has summoned up the balls to kill Critters at the end of Critters 2, then this would explain the "Evertyhing Changes" line, and the "You never could" line.
Maybe it's also what gave Charlie the courage to kill Ug. He worked out at the last minute that it wasn't the real Ug. And like he said earlier in the film; "Everybody I know is dead."
What do people think?
reply
share