The McFly family ties get even more complex in this well imagined sequel

Rating: 9/10 (8 February 2011)

Upon revisiting Back To The Future Part II recently,it occurred to me that i have spent years thinking what a highly inferior sequel it was but having now seen it through new eyes, im happy to say that i feel as though i have been very harsh in holding that opinion for so long. Yes, there is only one first time with these things and the beauty of the first adventure was that we got to see Marty McFly interact with his parents when they were his age and the sheer brilliance of that idea was always going to be difficult for the creative minds behind this sequel to top. What they have come up with is a smart,complex weaving of overlapping time frames that keeps you as a viewer on your feet while riffing on many of the ideas from the first film. The trip in to the future is a sheer joy as we see 2015 (four years away), and the imagination and wit that has gone in to creating a not so distant future vision. The 'mcguffin' on this occasion, a future sports results book that falls in to the wrong hands and goes back to 1955, doesn't evoke the same fun as the McFly family ties, but the journey is one well worth taking and in the end you have to surrender to the energy and fun of this very well imagined and thought out sequel. It's a shame the excellent Crispin Glover doesn't return as George McFly but the rest of the cast all live up to previous performances and Zemeckis handles the complex structure with enviable skill.