A Fascinatingly Inaccurate Forecast of the Future

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2016)

This 1989 sequel to the 1985 film, "Back to the Future," features the continuing adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown. In this film, Marty must travel from 1985 to the year 2015 to help his own son. Through an act of carelessness, Marty initiates a chain of events which alters events prior to 1985. Marty and Doc must return to 1955 to repair the damage to their own history.
Although entertaining, this second film wasn't quite as good as the first and third films in the series. The character, Jennifer Parker, did little except faint a lot in the movie; so, the inclusion of the character in the story seemed a bit puzzling. The older versions of the characters from the year 2015 were depicted in an over- the-top manner, rendering them somewhat less credible. The future characters seemed more like parodies of the younger versions from the earlier film, which diminished the audience's ability to engage with them on any emotional level. However, the story of the lives of the future characters of this film was intended to be only a backdrop to the more interesting story about Marty McFly, Professor Brown, and Biff from 1985.
While this second film was arguably the weakest of the three "Back to the Future" films; this film still managed to become a source of interest as it approached the date, October 21, 2015 (the future date depicted in the 1989 film). Audiences of 2015 were amused by some of the film's 26-year-old predictions which proved to be wildly inaccurate. Audiences of the year 2015 also had the opportunity to compare how well the actors had actually aged in real life compared to the way they were artificially aged using makeup and prosthetics in 1989.
In spite of its flaws, the second film in the "Back to the Future" trilogy still manages to be fun. The film is well paced; and, the time paradox problem is interesting. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Thomas Wilson put in great performances. The film's forecasts of the future as well as its re-creation of scenes from the first film provide points of interest for the audience. The film is a fascinating entry in the trilogy which audiences will enjoy!