When it comes to the summer blockbuster, the sequel is inevitable, and Back to the Future is no more immune to this than any other franchise. Back to the Future II opens by reiterating the ending of the original, where teenager Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and his girlfriend Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue, replacing Claudia Wells in her original role), are both summoned by Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) to come along with him on yet another adventure. According to the scientist, it not only concerns Marty’s future but Jennifer’s as well, so she must be brought along, as they must help their future children.
They travel forward in time to 2015, where people use hoverboards to travel, and 3-D now exists (a Jaws 3D shark pops out of the local cinema, and “attacks” Marty, and he reacts by saying that it “still looks fake”). Once again, Nike gets some humorous product placement here. Director Robert Zemeckis openly admitted that he never meant for these scenes to accurately depict the future, but he just wanted to have fun with it. This new setting does indeed provide for some fun diversions with our main characters, as well as setting up the main plot.
Before too long, Doc and Marty realize that they must travel back to 1955 to save his own future in 1985…again. But an obstacle that stands in their way this time is the bully, Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), who also returns from the first film. He poses a much bigger threat here; you might say this part of the narrative feels most similar in tone to It’s a Wonderful Life, when George Bailey discovers that the town has become Pottersville.
The story from Zemeckis and Bob Gale (who also co-wrote the predecessor) involves alternate timelines and paradoxes, and has some fun tricks up its sleeve, even if it breaks some of the rules they’ve previously established. They also set up some nice character arcs for Doc and Marty, even if the dialogue used to do this is a bit on-the-nose at times. While I won’t be spoiling anything here (just like the first one, discovering the surprises for yourself is the fun of it), suffice to say that it’s great fun seeing all of these characters observe alternate versions of themselves in various scenarios–and sometimes, interfere with them to save the day.
Once again, the cast is wonderful, with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd at the fore, with great chemistry between the two. Composer Alan Silvestri returns with his timeless theme. Of course, this sequel naturally cannot hold up as well as the original, but all the filmmakers ask is that you turn off your brain for two hours. The best thing to do is just go along for the ride.
*** out of four
Rated PG
1 hour, 48 minutes
THE REEL REVIEWER WITH JOSHUA KROEGER 