Review of Back to the Future Part II (1989) by Lewis E — 10 Nov 2015

So how accurate was 'Back to the Future: Part 2's vision of 2015? Predicting video calls in addition to holograms was spot on and you could maybe count half a point for hover-boards considering these handle-less segways have people believing they look as cool as they would be on actual hover-boards but hover-cars, auto-fitting clothes and Michael Jackson advertising tortillas proved too ambitious. Admittedly I am guilty of being overly ambitious through thinking this sequel would have been more different than its predecessor.

The original was enjoyable and inventive but the majority of the action was rather pedestrian, particularly when Marty travelled to the past where it tended to entail juvenile behaviour with Biff and his cronies. 'BTTF: Part 2' quickly addresses this by raising the stakes through using three timelines and showing the implications of time travel on the town instead of specifically Marty's family. Problems are subsequently created however because of the disintegrating logic associated with using numerous timelines while the movie also frustratingly refocuses back on Marty and Biff, completely forgetting the neighbourhood issues which were previously hinted as being a significant aspect. Furthermore, the choice to return to the same past events as the first film had me feeling like I had time travelled, but in an annoying way since I had no need to re-visit the past of two days ago. Marty basically retreads his old steps in order to prevent/change certain incidents. Bet they thought they were being smart. Unfortunately, despite incorporating a couple interesting scientific ideas, retreading the same steps fails to provide enough new material for audiences and ultimately came across as lazy writing.

After all this ranting, I still have to congratulate it for maintaining the delightfully fun tone and while we are not yet gifted the ability to visit the future, this franchise's easy-to-watch nature is ideal for passing the time.