Back to the Future Part II is the zany and much asked for sequel to its predecessor. Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) travel 30 years into the future to 2015 to save Marty’s son from disaster. During this operation, a mishap occurs involving a sports almanac and Biff Tannen (Thomas F Wilson), which changes the past i.e. 1985 into a dystopian and nightmarish version of its previous self. As a result, our duo is forced to correct this error by travelling way back to 1955 without meddling with the chain of events that occur in the first film.
Back to the Future Part II is a much a darker version of the original. The dystopian version of Hill Valley, California that was portrayed here was so dark and unexpected given the vibe of this series. But for some reason, I appreciated that this film took a risk for a moment and attempted to better itself from the original. This movie also gives a lot of screen time to Biff Tannen (Thomas F Wilson). His character me was very black or white. The acts that he performs are pure evil and unforgiving, however there isn’t much else to him. The character of ‘Biff’ can be easily disposed for any other one of those ‘high school bully’ type characters.
The whole first act of this film takes place in 2015, and this was my favorite part of the movie. It was fascinating to see how our society in the 80s viewed the future and I must say, we’re not that far off from what was depicted. I mean ok, so we don’t exactly have flying cars as mass transport and our jackets may not be designed to self fit. But look at what we do have. 3D movies? Check. Eyewear? Check. Plasma flat screen TVs? Check. There are surprisingly many similarities.
I have to also point out the uniqueness of this film’s plot. Back to the Future Part II extensively utilizes the events that its predecessor established and actually uses these events to impact the events of this film. I don’t know about you guys, but this film links in perfectly with the first one. I have never seen a movie that does such a thing so successfully. Also as expected, Michael and J Fox and Christopher Lloyd bang out two spectacular performances. It was their energy and charisma that made this movie so much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. My only real concern with this film is that it tried too hard to set up a sequel. The events that occur in the final 15 minutes could have been easily avoided with a few simple steps, but the studio clearly wanted a sequel.
Is Back to the Future Part II the ‘Empire Strikes Back’ of this franchise? No, I don’t think so. In my opinion, this movie utilizes much of the groundwork and memorabilia established by ‘Back to the Future’. If that film hadn’t been received well, then this movie would’ve tanked because its narrative relies heavily on the events of the previous movie. I do like this movie though because of its two lead performances, it’s darker taste and its first act, which depicted the future in a fascinating and entertaining manner.
RATING
120 days of Film 
I found Back to the Future II a good movie but it did not hold the same “attractiveness” as Back to the Future. When we talk about successful franchises (and the 80’s had very good ones) the sequel comes with huge expectations by the audience. So, the storyline has to be very good. I never realized that until I had to write a blog for my University Marketing course based on successful brand and audience connectivity. So, I read director John Avildsen’s book and how he developed Rocky and The Karate Kid. Both with huge success, but for Karate Kid, he directed all 3 of them. So, the first one was an unexpected worldwide success. John spent 45 days filming KK and yet 30 years later fans are still visiting the filming sites… but by the 3rd one, John had one vision of the franchise and Producers had a different one, thus KK3 ended not so well in comparison with KK1. Also it did not helped that Producers did not agree on Elisabeth Shue’s role for KK2, thus breaking what we called “brand continuity” and left fans a little bit lost… But in the case of Back to the Future, I think the first one and the third one are the best. The second one was a bit confusing at the point that C. Lloyd had to explain the travel process on a board. Despite that, Back to the Future was a hit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your input man, I really appreciate it 🙂 I do agree with you partially that it is extremely difficult for a sequel of any franchise to hold the same “attractiveness” as the original because we are accustomed to the characters and ideas that we see on screen. In the case of BTTF that would be DeLorean and Doc Brown. But I think BTTF II did something different in that it went a bit darker and also explored what our future society would look like. Is it better than the original? I don’t think so. But I still love this film.
LikeLike
BTTF indeed was a great franchise and marked that era for sure! Some franchises are lucky enough to have the sequel as good as the original, e.g Lethal Weapon II.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; we have created some nice practices and we are looking to exchange solutions with others, be sure to shoot me an e-mail if interested.
LikeLike