Review of Back to the Future Part II (1989) by Mrmoviebuff — 24 Aug 2016

To put it short, I liked 'Back to the Future Part II', but unfortunately, not as much as I enjoyed the first one. This is a sequel that has a lot going for it, so much so, that it becomes a little over-saturated with so many plot-lines and so many different situations that our characters get into.

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is back, and Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) takes Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue) to the future of 2015 where he tells them about the situation involving both Marty and Jennifer's kids. While they're both in 2015, Marty comes across a guide book that is able to tell him about all the sports events and results between 1950 to 2000, with Marty being equipped with easy access to a time machine, he is able to go back and predict these scores and is able to make money from it all.

But, the doctor isn't so keen about this idea, as he claims that he did not invent the time machine to predict scores and gamble for financial gain. But, it turns out that Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) has managed to find the book and use it for his younger self and alternate the present that is 1985 in the worst way possible.

The movie is certainly fast-paced and visually eye-popping. The fictional take on the future of 2015 is filled with pure imagination and the film does its job with special effects that still hold up magnificently well, the film is still as funny as ever, even though some parts of the film may seem a little far-fetched. There are times where he movie does feel a little unnecessary as one would ask "Why would the Doc tell Marty about his future when he could control his own future and prevent disastrous results?".

There is still a lot to like about this movie, even if it does feel a little repetitive and overly melodramatic, if not overstuffed with too many character cliches. The young hero is the young hero, the crazy scientist is the crazy scientist and the big bad guy is the big bad guy. Some of the lines of dialogue may be a little ironic for comedy purposes, but at times can feel a little... eye-rolling, such as "You're not going to believe this, we got to go back to 1955!" followed by "I don't believe it!". I get that it's used for irony, but it also felt a little cheap in terms of what kind of comedy it's supposed to be.

A good sequel, not as great as the first.