Back to the Future Part II

Marty McFly is back, and this time he has to travel back to 1955 after an unfortunate incident which took place in 2015 so that he can prevent the destruction of the peaceful society of Hill Valley (what a great fictional name!). The film provides two hours of absolutely wonderful and fun entertainment.

Every paradox and logical problem of time-travel is explained very well in the film itself, and those that are left out are easily overlooked due to the creativeness of the rest of the film. Who cares that if Marty leaves 1985 in a time machine to 2015, there would be no Marty left in 1985 to grow to up into the 47 year old Marty in 2015? This movie is so much fun that things like this are gladly forgotten about in order to accept the huge amount of satisfaction delivered by the film.

The Back To The Future trilogy is a perfect example of the need to be willing to abandon at least a tiny bit of logic in order to fully enjoy a movie. This suspension of disbelief is necessary for a person to be able to truly experience the effectiveness of all three Back To The Future films, and this experience truly is a great one.

It is so rare that a film or a series of films comes along that is so well written and perfectly acted and directed as the Back To The Future movies are. Although I realize that another sequel would probably be disastrous to the credibility of the series as a whole, I have to admit that I have always been disappointed that they stopped at the third film. All three are so much fun that they leave you wishing that the story left room for a few more sequels.

In honor of Back To The Future Day, I decided to write my review on a movie that is not only has a historic background, but also happens to be a good movie. Although it has been a while since I've seen the first two Back To The Future Movies, from as early as I can remember, I always favored Part II. Although much of this favoritism has to do with its overly futuristic depiction of 2015, I still find myself to be drawn to the sequel that introduced more comedy, character development, and most importantly, built upon the framework established in the first movie. Then of course there's the classic hover-board scene, which to this day still amazes me. Above all, the biggest reason why I continue to be amazed by Back To The Future II is because of the nostalgia it evokes from viewers both young and old. We are in that time frame where both parents and their children are familiar with the Back To the Future movies, and it just amazes me to think that it was only 30 years ago that my parents were heading to the movies to see Back To The Future, and were around the same age as I am know. It was only 30 years ago when they envisioned a world filled with flying cars, even wackier clothes, and HOVER-BOARDS. Now I am growing up in that time frame that they always dreamed about, and I am experiencing technology that at one time seemed like science fiction to them. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty awesome!! Happy Back To The Future Day!

'Back to the Future Part II' takes off where the first movie left. Pretty much the essence of the first one is present except this time Elisabeth Shue has been cast as Marty's girlfriend. Like the first movie, this one too is non-stop fun. The original plot once again, brilliantly revolves around the time-travelling paradox but this time the interference with the time-line has huger repercussions that are more complicated to solve. It's slightly a little more complex than the first movie but the energy and entertainment level is the same. I liked Zemeckis's version of 2015. It has that ultracool look and the futuristic gadgets and gizmos were quite amusing. The soundtrack is equally wild. The camera-work and special effects are very well done considering that the challenge was greater (e.g. showing two Michael J. Fox on the same screen). Okay, so showing the same actor share the screen with himself isn't anything new but in most movies/shows it looks poorly done which is not the case here. With most movies, the sequel tends to be a let down but 'Back to the Future Part II' is a great continuation of the first film.

Continuing a movie as perfect as "Back To The Future" must have been a really tough job. What made it even harder was that the writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had to ignore an important character from part one. Because Crispin Glover asked for too much money, his character George McFly, Marty's wacky Dad, hardly appears in the sequels, which constricted the storyline a lot beforehand.

Still, "Back To The Future II" turned out to be a huge success, commercially and artistically. The movie is every bit as clever and delightful as part one. I think most viewers don't realize how extremely complex this story is, because it's so enjoyable to watch. Gale & Zemeckis wrote a screenplay that takes place in three different periods of time, changes storyline more than once, has characters interacting with themselves all the time, but never seems overdone or confusing. The most original trick the two Bobs pulled was to virtually return to part one and have the main character interfere with the original storyline. I don't think that has ever been done before or since.

No, the movie isn't flawless in a sense that everything can be explained logically. Bob Gale admitted himself that Marty and Doc shouldn't be able to visit their future selves in the first place. There are a lot of impossible time travels in part two (you can read about them in detail here: http://mjyoung.net/time/back2.html). "Mistakes" like that don't take away any of the fun, though, and I still think that the "Back To The Future" trilogy incorporates the logics of time traveling better than any other movie ever did.

Besides the perfect script the trilogy's success is due to Zemeckis ever so beautiful direction and his eye for detail, and of course the great cast. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson, all shamelessly underrated actors, are once again brilliant. It's a REAL pity that Crispin Glover didn't return for the sequels, but as I've said before, Gale & Zemeckis did a great job writing their way around his memorable character. The only other actress that didn't come back was Claudia Wells, who played Jennifer in part one and was appropriately replaced by Elisabeth Shue here.

Summing up, "Back To The Future II" is a more than worthy follow-up to one of the best movies of all time. In fact, I think it's the best sequel ever made, only rivaled by "Terminator 2: Judgement Day". But that's a different story...

Back to the Future Part II (1989) was green lighted after the success of the first film. The film follows the further adventures of Marty and Doc Brown. This film and the third installment were filmed back to back. However the complexity of the storyline turned off many of the fans of the original. But this is what I enjoyed about this movie. Instead of being the same old run-of-the-mill by the numbers sequel, the film makers decided to do something different and make this a brain twister film. The beauty of this movie is that you have to pay close attention to it.

The film takes place right after the events of part one. Doc Brown comes back from the future to help Marty get his kid out of trouble. Instead of leaving well enough alone, all three of them head off to the future to try and change events. They managed to pull it off but unfortunately they tore a fabric in time due to Marty being greedy and the nosy efforts of Doc Brown. Can Doc and Marty safely restore the space and time continuum before the universe collapses upon itself?

A fun sequel with a few cast changes (Elizabeth Shue now portrays Marty's girlfriend whilst Crispin Glover is no longer with in the film except in stock footage). Most of the original players return to reprise their original roles. Michael J. Fox stretches his acting abilities by playing his son and daughter as well as his older self. If you enjoyed the first film then you'll really want to watch this one (if you haven't already).

Highly recommended.