Back to the Future 2 is, not surprisingly, the sequel to 1985’s enormously enjoyable and highly successful time-travel sci-fi comedy starting Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd. For those of you that don’t know, Lloyd plays Dr Emmet Brown, who has managed to convert a DeLorean into a time machine, and Marty had to travel back to the days when his parents were young and he wasn’t even a glimmer in their eyes to save the day.
This second film in the trilogy begins with the same sequence that the first film ended with – Marty and Jennifer, looking forward to a lifetime of love and stuff, are startled by the mad Doc coming back from the future with the worrying comment that something must be done about their kids. When Marty points out that there isn’t enough road to reach the critical speed for time travel, Brown tells him ”We don’t need roads where we’re going!”, and off they fly – 30 years into the future, to 2015. This version of 2015 owes more to the likes of Bladerunner than what 8 years hence actually looks likely to be like, but it’s fun.
Marty has to sort out his children’s problems in the future, but in doing so something happens that ends up changing his past. When he realises this, something must be done in order to change the past so that the future won’t be changed and thus the past will remain as it was. Confused? Another jump back to 1955 is in order after going forward 30 years, but this time the situation is further complicated by the fact that Marty is already there!
This second film in the Back to the Future series is enjoyable for many of the same reasons as the first film – lots of action, plenty of humour, and a great cast. There are several scenes where the action is cleverly superimposed onto scenes from the first film, and this works well for those who have seen the first film. However this and several other references to the original make it highly derivative, and thus not so enjoyable for those who haven’t seen the original. Bob Gale’s clever script helps to keep things from seeming to implausible despite the myriad paradoxes that are thrown up.
Again the special effects are really well done and still look pretty good even by today’s standards, and the music (by Alan Silvestri) matches the action very nicely. The effects were nominated for an Oscar (The Abyss won it that year). It had very polished production values and, as you would expect from Director Robert Zemeckis, there are some great action sequences too (with the futuristic skateboarding probably being the best).
Overall I wouldn’t expect anyone to watch this without having seen the first film, so it is recommended, but it doesn’t stand up so well on its own merits so I’m only giving it 3 stars. I actually found the third film to be somewhat better than this one. Still, with its clever filming and good performances, it’s well worth watching if you enjoyed the first. If you didn’t like the first film though you won’t want to watch this one.
Other Information
Runtime: 108 minutes (it’s a little shorter than the original, which is probably a good thing in this case)
Rating: PG
Quotes
(Anything in italics is my own comment on the quote.)
Doc: The time-traveling is just too dangerous. Better that I devote myself to study the other great mystery of the universe: women!
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Biff, the bully from the first film, meets a younger version of himself…
Young Biff: Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?
Old Biff: It's *leave*, you idiot! "Make like a tree, and leave." You sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong.
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Dubious consolation…
Doc: However, the destruction may be very localized; limited to merely our own galaxy.
Marty McFly: Well that's a relief.
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