Uneven but Fascinating

Rating: 6/10 (6 December 2015)

I am conflicted on this one. Naturally, it is the sequel to the most popular film of nineteen eighty-five, and one of my favorite films of all time, Back to the Future. They did not expect the film to become a hit, but when it did, the studio took no time telling them to make a sequel. And so we got this film. The creators have gone on record stating that the 'To Be Continued' at the end of movie one was not supposed to relate to anything, and that if they knew that they were going to be making a sequel, they would have ended it differently.
The lack of desire to make this movie in particular shows. A lot. It is disjointed, filled with plot holes, pandering, and altogether does not work as a film that can be enjoyed completely seriously. I do like this film, but I like it in the same way that I like another ridiculous sequel to one of my favorite films of all time: Rocky IV. Both films are memorable and ingrained in the public consciousness, but decidedly not what a film critic would consider good.
But why? What goes wrong here. Let's take a look at the plot. Marty McFly, the seventeen year-old icon of the 80s himself, goes with his girlfriend Jennifer (played by a different actress and sorely underused in this film) and crazy but awesome (seriously, the man made a time machine) scientist, Doc Brown to the future. What's the year, you may ask if you were living under a rock about a month and a half ago. 2015.
I could go into how this movie's description of 2015 compares with the real 2015, but I went into that specifically on a post on my website that I wrote on BTTF Day. Suffice it to say that it is pretty cool in the retro future kind of way, the same way that steampunk and cyberpunk is cool. This is, strangely enough, the weakest section of the movie by far. There are some funny gags, but everything else falls flat.
The second third takes us to an alternate 1985. I won't spoil anything (though if you haven't seen this film... shame on you), but suffice it to say that things are not pretty. It lacks the grand dystopian vision of something like Blade Runner, but there is a texture to the atmosphere that I really appreciate. And... I prefer to not get too political, but can we all just agree that the terrifying Alt1985 Biff is Donald Trump.
The last third takes us back to 1955. This is both the worse and the best part of the movie. There are a lot of rehash gags here, and it comes dangerously close to completely retreading the plot of movie 1, and it drags on way too long, but the tension is thicker than in any other part, and the last fifteen minutes of the film is one of, if not the best sections of any of these films.
There are a lot of parts that are just lame, plain and simple. But I don't feel embarrassment but disappointment. Of all the movies, this one covers the most ground, has the most ambition and imagination, and overall material to make a great film. But whereas the first one did everything right, this film squanders a lot of opportunities. The magic is gone. I wish I could say that it's a great film, but it's just an average one, and my least favorite of the BTTF trilogy.
(Still, it is pretty cool how they were able to throw in a couple references to BTTF 3 due to shooting both sequels at the same time.)