A fun film in a fun trilogy that the majority of viewers will easily enjoy

Rating: Null/10 (1 September 2006)

Seconds after being left back in 1985, Doc Brown returns in his Deorean and whisks Marty and Jennifer off to the future (2015). Drugging Jennifer for her own protection, Doc tells Marty that he must stand in for his own kid, stand up to Biff's son and thus avert a change of events that would eventually destroy his family. The mission is accomplished fairly easily but both Marty and Jennifer discover their future, and neither likes what they see. Marty tries to smuggle a sports almanac back in time to make money betting. Doc stops him of course but Biff senior overhears and pieces it all together. Returning to 1985, Marty discovers that the present is totally changed, meanwhile Doc works out how it all occurred and sets out to put it right.
For all the criticisms of summer "event" pictures, it is hard to complain too much about the sheer pleasure that the Back to the Future trilogy gives. Starting where the last film ended, this picks up really well in regards mood and humour. The plot is pretty clever and superficially the complex time-travelling stuff holds up really well and is effortlessly accessible. Of course if you want to tear cosmic holes in it then it can be done but to do so would be like kicking a kitten. Using the plot from the first film to good effect the best thing the sequel retains is the original's sense of fun because it is entertaining and has good pace. One criticism of it would be that, instead of the actual plots used in parts 1 and 3, this has a lot of time jumping instead. That this works means that it isn't too bad that it is a bit overused but it is still a niggle nonetheless.
The cast are as good as before and the main ones all buy into the sense of fun required to make it work. Fox shows why he was a big draw when he was younger and is the real heart of the film. He just about holds his own alongside scene-stealing Lloyd. Thompson is pretty good and Shue has more to do but from the support cast the dominant performance comes from Wilson, who is basic but does it very well. The effects are impressive for the time although watching it now you will have to forgive the very obvious split-screen technique when actors are playing different versions of the same character at the same time.
It is the weakest of the three films but that is not really a major criticism in this film series because they are all consistently enjoyable. The narrative rides the time-travelling gimmick for all its worth but it just about makes it all work. A fun film in a fun trilogy that the majority of viewers will easily enjoy.