Are we back?

Rating: 6/10 (5 July 2009)

Picture it: Phoenix. Saturday, November 25th, 1989. It was early evening at the old UA Theater at Metrocenter. There I sat at the far right of the largest theater, next to the wall since the place was packed, and on the edge of my seat, for the entire length of 'Back to the Future Part II.' See, I was a huge fan of the original, and was thrilled to see the continuation. I wasn't let down. It had action, adventure, 4x the time travel (which originally I was disappointed in #1, since I was a kid that wanted to see time travelers actually time travel), comedy and suspense. I guess the only thing I didn't like, though I did want to see even more when it finished, was the long preview of 'Part III' and the only reason I wasn't thrilled was I didn't like westerns and that's all it looked like to me. This was probably the best movie going experience in my life, before and since – due to the anticipation and excitement of a 15-year-old boy. Fast forward almost exactly 20 years, and after re-watching the entire trilogy, I was kind of disappointed. Sure, it's still a good movie, still had great adventure and comedy, but gone was the original's magic and heart. Too many scenes, characters, events and clues were given specifically to be solved or revealed in 'Part III.' I know it's a classic bridge movie, but it really got tedious attempting to take mental notes of what's to come. The special effects were almost laughable (the first movie came out 4 years prior and still topped this one) and Fox certainly showed his age. Nevertheless, it's a must see for fans, especially since it's required viewing (bridge) to the finish off the series.