Last year I reviewed "Back To The Future". It has great characters; solid casting; funny moments; a mixture of different genres; quotable dialogue; memorable moments; and it never ever runs out of plot. I consider this film to be the best time travel film of all time. The film had a bit of an unintentional cliffhanger (Like "Halloween") but a sequel was made called...
Now doing a sequel to a great film is very, very hard and there's only been very few sequels that do justice to the first film. Is a sequel necessary, and will it bring the same creativity, humor and clever writing like the first film. Buckle up everyone, we're going to be going to go to different time periods and review the events, just like I did for the first film.
1985
If you remember how the first film ended, it ended with the Doc wearing future clothing; using trash as fuel; tells Marty that something is wrong with him and his girlfriend's kids; and we see the Delorean fly because where they're going they "don't need roads". Instead of seeing the same scene from the first film, we get a re-shot of the scene for many different reasons. First, Marty's girlfriend is played by Elisabeth Shue instead of Claudia Wells due to her mother having cancer. Crispin Glover by the way, doesn't play Marty's dad either, instead we get Jeffrey Weissman who's made to look like Glover, which caused Crispin to sue them for it. Many people are disappointed that the original actors couldn't play the characters. Personally, it doesn't bother me much because I've seen it done before in great sequels and I found it fine; also we didn't see too much of Marty's girlfriend in the first film, and we don't see too much of his Dad in this film, so I think the measures are pretty fair. Other changes in the scene include Doc comically thinking a moment to Marty's question, and Biff sees the flying Delorean. Good re-shot and new twists, let's go to the Future (Which is very near in our time).
2015
Marty's son will go to Jail if he joins a gang headed by Biff's (For the longest time who I thought was his son) Grandson Griff. It's up to Marty and Doc to stop him. Just when you think that's the plot, there's more. Marty's girlfriend Jennifer is mistaken for her future self and Doc and Marty must find her before she meets her future self. Still not enough plot, Biff has borrowed the Delorean while Marty and Doc were away. What he did will be answered in time.
Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd are reprising their roles and just like in the first film, they do an outstanding job. They're both funny, likable and it doesn't feel like they haven't played their characters in a while. Some people however, don't like it when Marty reacts to when people call him Chicken, which was never addressed in the first film. My response is, that's not out of place, that's bringing something new to the character, and if you watch and pay attention to the films it works. Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson reprise their roles as well and I must say I love the make up they put on them, even on old Marty and Jenifer. I also get a big kick out of Biff's grandson Griff (Played by the same actor) because he's the opposite bully version of Biff. As for the future, this is like the "2001: A Space Odyssey" of the late 80's. Everything looks so cool and futuristic that you'd wish we'd have it all now. I won't spoil the future surprises for you, you'll have to see the film. However, I will say I do like the Hoverboards. Now let's go back to 1985.
ALTERNATE 1985
It's 1985 and Hill Valley has changed because Biff is now rich and powerful. If you read what I wrote about Biff as my 19th Favorite Movie Villain, you'll know all about this scene. All I'm going to say is, it's just as shocking and horrifying as the "Pottersville" sequence in "It's A Wonderful Life".
1955
Now I know what you're thinking, why are we back in 1955? Old Biff took the Delorean to 1955 to give his young self the "Gray's Sports Almanac" to make him rich. Marty and Doc has to steal back the Almanac and destroy it to prevent alternate 1985. However, they must be careful not to screw up their past events in that time period and must not run into their past selves. This is when the film gets really, really good.
This is one of those rare sequels that takes us back to the events of the first movie and to be honest, I can't think of any other films that do it. While having an original plot, it's great seeing the events recreated; seeing what took place in between the events; and seeing the characters without any change and learning new things about them. This part always and I mean always keeps me on the edge of my seat because they only have one shot, they must not be detected and one mess up and everyone is doomed. Some of my favorite moments in this part are when Biff meets his old self; when Doc hides his identity from past Doc; Marty trying to stop the punks from beating his past self while he's playing "Johnny B.Goode"; and the Tunnel scene (shot in the same Tunnel that leads to Toon Town in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?").
Overall, this is a solid sequel. It has the same great writing as the first film; new and old funny moments; a great new look and return of these characters; and be sure to pay attention even to the slightest detail that will either lead up to a moment in this film or the next film.
RATING 4/5
Why since I praised it so much and find it a solid sequel, you'll understand in my next review of the film.
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