Back to the Future Part II

"Back to the Future" was such a fun show that it needed a sequel. After making "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", Robert Zemeckis gave the fans what they wanted. The filmmakers of this trilogy did not plan on making sequels despite what happens at the end of the original film. That scene was meant to be another gag or joke to end off the movie. "Back to the Future Part II" is not as good as the original film but considering what Bob Gale and Zemeckis had to deal with, Part II is well made and contains much of the excitement that the original film had. It has a complicated story with almost no prologue to the movie’s main crisis but once this main crisis gets underway, the movie takes on the drama and anxiety that the trilogy is known for.

A few years after seeing Part III for the first time, my parents let me rent Part II and it was like watching a prequel. I was very entertained by having all my questions answered. I saw how Marty got the hover board, I was shown how he got back to 1955 and why he was wearing the black leather jacket. My favorite moment in seeing Part II was with the Western Union guy. When he pulled the letter out of his coat, everything for me was now resolved. For this reason, one of my favorite lines in the whole trilogy is when the Western Union man offers to help Marty and Marty replies: “There’s only one man who can help me.” We then cut to that “one man” as he hangs from a clock on top of a building in the middle of a thunderstorm. We have now arrived at the moment when Part III starts and in my first experience with watching Part II, it was very exciting to once again see the familiar clock tower scene in this new context. I love how all three films show the clock tower scene. It is the best scene in the whole trilogy and not because you see it more than once.

Part II can be confusing and convoluted but when you know the “making of” story, things make sense and the movie turns out to be well made in that context. This filmmakers had to deal with three difficulties during production. First, Jennifer got in the car. Second, Crispin Glover did not reprise his role. Finally, for the first time in Hollywood history, two films were being made back-to-back. Had “Bob and Bob” initially planned Back to the Future as a trilogy, the ending of the 1st film would have been different. Putting Jennifer in the time machine created problems and also, it was established that the reason they were going to the future was to solve a problem with Marty’s kids. The beginning of the film was meant to get this plot point out of the way so that the real theme of Part II could take over. Crispin Glover dropped out of the cast of Part II and so that made things difficult. The filmmakers couldn't visit the 1960's as they hoped, involving a plot where Marty almost prevents his birth. I should also mention how busy Zemeckis was with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" preceding this film and with filming both sequels to "Back to the Future" at the same time. Zemeckis was filming Part III during the post-production phase of II. Considering all this, Bob and Bob did a good job in telling a story and solving the problems with it. I, for example, love the scene where Doc explains how to fix the present. The writers are geniuses with exposition as is Christopher Lloyd.

The original film had George as the character that undergoes a change. The writers switch to Marty for these two last films. We see Marty's major flaw introduced here in Part II and the consquences of it. Part III, portrays the resolution. This flaw of loosing self control is plausible when you look at some scenes in the first film. The common theme in these films is improving yourself to better your future. Marty may be on a sci-fi adventure but he is the one that has to decide what kind of person he will be and what kind of life he will have in his future. I think it is important to know that the filmmakers decided to have fun with predicting the future rather than try to seriously estimate. Instead of doing your usual apocalyptic future, the film shows a bright and appealing 2015 with a twist of cheesiness (this helps with the story though to contrast the dark scenes in the middle of the film). They weren't really trying to predict the future perfectly as a result. I really wanted flying cars though to come true, not to mention the beloved hoverboards. Other predictions that didn't pan out include Queen Diana as mentioned on the newspaper and the Cubs winning the World Series. By pure coincidence, they were eliminated from the playoffs on October 21, 2015. They did get some things right such as video phone calls and video games without a controller. When I first saw the movie and it shows Needles' person info during phone call, I wondered why that would be useful and didn't think much of it. I now see this as a successful prediction of social media. Other predictions came true intentionally on the aforementioned "Back to the Future Day". Nike announced the creation of self-tying shoes and Micheal J. Fox helped to break the news on social media. "Jaws 19" may not have been made but we did get a parody trailer. The level of special effects is a lot higher in this sequel when compared to the first movie. Having one actor play numerous roles in one shot may seem easy and commonplace today but back in the late 80's, it was a tough to accomplish and Zemeckis still went all out. "Roger Rabbit" featured the director's talent with special effects on a grand scale for the first time in his career but "Back to the Future: Part II" first demonstrated how seemless he could make them. You see a lot of seemless but big special effects in Zemeckis' future films such as "Forrest Gump", "Contact" and "Cast Away". "Part II" earned an Oscar nomination for these effects by the way. In the first "Back to the Future" film, we see the possibilities and dangers of time travel. Now we are show by writers Zemeckis and Gale how time travel can be used for evil. Just like the original Star Wars trilogy, the 2nd film is darker in nature. One of Michael J. Fox's best scenes in the whole trilogy is when he comes to the realization that this whole crisis is his fault. It is some great acting. There is a major story flaw in the 2nd film because Biff’s trip back to 1955 should have created a paradox. Because Biff becomes rich, Doc is committed to an asylum and therefore would not have completed the time machine. As a critic, you have the choice of focusing just on the problems or recognizing but ignoring them for the purpose of enjoying what is good about the film. I am happier as a fan rather than being critical. It does seem coincidental also that Old Biff chose November 12, 1955 but when you think about young Biff's financial situation on that day, it makes perfect sense because he has to pay $300 bucks to pay for his car repairs. Bob and Bob here also continue to play with the idea that adults exaggerate their past when conversing with the younger generation because Biff's story about coming into possession of the almanac varies from the actual event. Just like the line “There is only one man…”, there are other one-liners in both sequels that move the plot forward in an exciting way. I find these type of lines entertaining especially when amplified by Alan Silvestri’s music. There is one scene in Part II that shows Zemeckis’ directorial talent. Since I first saw it, it has the same effect every time. The scene has Marty from outside watching himself inside saying goodbye to his parents when Biff suddenly shows up. The scene is framed with Marty’s face in the foreground with his past self and his parents in the background through the door window. When Biff’s face enters the frame opposite of Marty’s face without a music cue, we continue to silently watch as we slowly come to understand that Marty is in trouble. When Biff calls Marty a chicken and there is a music cue, we the audience finally gasp. Normally, a director would make Biff’s entrance more of a surprise but instead, Zemeckis raises the tension gradually in the scene. I like how Part II ends because it seems like Marty is in the worst-case scenario. He has no time machine, Doc is stuck back in 1885 and Doc’s 1955 counterpart has fainted. It ends with a laugh but you can almost hear Marty say something like “Can this get any worse?” The preview for Part III is a great way to end things off and it is all because of Silvestri’s western theme that he wrote without seeing a single clip from Part III. I cannot help but say: “It’s not over” when that preview starts.

For 20 years, ever since I first saw "Back to Future Park II", I have been waiting for October 21, 2015 and I was really annoyed by all the hoaxes on Facebook in the years leading up. Then the day finally arrived and it was a great day. In the evening, I got to see this movie and its predecessor for the first time on the big screen. A huge cheer went up in the audience when Doc read out the "present date". I think we can all agree that Part II was the most watched movie around the world that day. I like how Charles Fleischer, the voice of Roger Rabbit, plays Terry in both 1955 and 2015. Another interesting fact is that Elijah Wood plays one of the kids in the Cafe 80's. "Back to the Future Part II" is one of the most unique sequels I have ever seen because you see a lot of the original film but this time from a different angle. All sequels want to replicate the same entertainment experience that the audience had the first time around but when you have a film trilogy about time travel, you can reprise things more easier than with other blockbusters. The beginning has problems but those are understandable. Part II does contain action, laughs, adventure and close calls as did the original so I have no major problem with the sequel. However, we are not done people. To Be Concluded…

4.5 Stars