Back to the Future Part II

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...

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.

It's funny that the plot of 'Back to the Future II' should be based on altering Marty McFly's future. Wasn't Doc the one who was so staunchly opposed to knowing too much about their future, preferring instead to let things take a natural course? 'Destiny!' he called it. But that is exactly what the sequel is all about, Doc's proposal to altar the future. And this leads not only to bad news for Doc Brown and Marty, but for the your Density? I mean, Destiny? (flashback humor).

The story focuses on Marty McFly's future. Picking up right where we left off in the first movie, Doc informs Marty that in the year 2015, Marty's son partakes in some unfortunate activities with Griff (Biff's grandson) that lead to his arrest and incarceration. While in the future to fix up that little mishap (again, messing with 'Destiny'), Marty picks up a sports Almanac to take back with him. The Almanac contains all sports scores since something like 1955 (why it is only the size of a magazine, I don't know, considering it covers major college and pro sporting event for a whole lot of years).

The Doc, in disgust at Marty's foolish get-rich-quick desires, throws the magazine out (while still in 2015). Unfortunately, Biff, now an old man, gets hold of both the magazine and the Delorian and travels to his young self in 1955. This sets off a change of events in the past so that when Marty and the Doc, now in the future, are ready to go back to 1985, suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar hell. With Biff changing the past, he also changed the future, creating a desolate, alternate 1985. One where Biff is the richest man in Hill Valley, though still the sleaziest. And where a lot of other things have changed as well. Now, Marty and the Doc have to go back to 1955 and get the magazine from Biff if they expect to restore the future and erase the alternative 1985.

This is a great sequel to a great movie. You get the 1989 version of the future (I don't know that 2015 will make the kind of progress we see in the movie with cool flying cars and dehydrating pizzas and hoverboards). This is the special effects and visual beauty of the second, whereas in the first one, it was recreating the past. Marty had to once adapt to 1955, now he has to do the same for 2015, even if only for a moment.

But, it also ties in another creative aspect: when Marty and the Doc must return to 1955, they only know the whereabouts of Biff based on where they last saw him in that year--the school dance and all of that which took place in the first movie. Going back to that past means that a Marty "Calvin Klein" McFly is already there, and the events are taking place again just as we saw them in the first movie. And now, the Marty and the Doc from the future are intermingling once again with their past versions of themselves. So, in essence, the filmmakers had to recreate some of the scenes from the old movie, from different angles, and the actors had to play dual roles (which they do often throughout the trilogy) by being added into those scenes. It was a great special effects/visionary project to undertake, and what makes the series so damned creative and really a fun idea. And here, too, the goal is to avoid running into your past self because, yes, it could altar events once again. I wonder how the future changed since Marty and Doc's intervention in 2015?

So, prepare yourself for what may arguably be the best movie out of the trilogy (probably because you get to see the future and past and everything in between; although, I'm still torn between rating the first or the second as my absolute favorite). It is the continuation of a fun first movie, and keeps up the creativity and novelty. I think that was the reason most responsible for its success: the ability to keep offering something new (although some things, are obviously repeated, like the running gag of Marty blacking out and waking up to some version of his mother informing him of what year it is after he tells her what an awful dream he had).

So, sit back and let the Delorean be your guide.

BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART II (1985) *** Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson, Lea Thompson, Elisabeth Shue. First sequel (noteworthy: both pts. II & III were filmed simultaneously back-to-back) takes up where the first one left off: Fox and Lloyd heading to the year 2015 where Fox must help his family of the future (he plays three other characters of the McFly clan) battling arch-nemesis Biff who goes back to 1955 to alter history...again. Darker in tone and plot but still fun all the same with some mind-twisting plot lines and cool effects.

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.