A Fun Back To The Future Sequel

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2012)

Getting back was only the beginning as the most spectacular time-travel adventure ever continues in Back to the Future Part II,a sequel that proves that lightning can strike twice.This science fiction comedy was directed by Robert Zemeckis, scripted by Bob Gale and stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson.Picking up precisely where they left off, Marty and Doc launch themselves to the year 2015 to fine-tune the future and inadvertently disrupt the space time continuum. Now, their only chance to fix the present is by going back to 1955 all over again before it is too late.
When in pops that crazy inventor Dr. Emmett Brown brings with news that in order to prevent a series of events that could ruin the McFly name for posterity, Marty McFly and his girlfriend are whisked into the future to the year 2015, where Marty must tangle with a teen rogue named Griff, who's obviously the descendant of Biff, the first Future film's bully. Marty foils Griff and his group when he jumps on an air-foil skateboard that flies him through town at rakish speeds with the loser bullies beaten again. Marty gets a money-making brainstorm before hopping in the time-traveling DeLorean, and he purchases a sports almanac. He figures that back in 1985 he'll be able to place sure-fire bets using the published sports scores of the games that are yet to happen. Unfortunately for Marty, Dr. Brown disapproves of his betting scheme wherein he feels too much messing with time is very dangerous and he tosses the almanac. A hidden Biff overhears the discussion about the almanac, sees it get tossed out, and grabs it. Thus begins a time- traveling swirl to make the head spin. Biff swipes the DeLorean, heads back to 1955, and with the help of the unerring almanac, bets his way to power. The now-altered "Biff world" has turned into a nightmarish scene with Biff the mogul, residing in a Vegas-styled pleasure palace and running everything. It's all our hero Marty can do to pull the pieces together this time, as he must jump between three generations of intertwined time travel.
Sure, this sequel has a clunky first act - which takes place in a hilariously overblown futuristic society - but the film knows just how, and when, to entertain us, and it does so in spades.The film works best through its magnificent technical achievements particularly the visual effects and the inherent charm of Fox, Lloyd and, especially, the delightfully menacing Thomas F. Wilson. Director Robert Zemeckis and cast bent over backwards to add layers of time-travel complication to this follow-up, and while it surely exercises the brain it isn't necessarily funny in the same way that its predecessor was. It's well worth a visit, though, just to appreciate the imagination that went into it, particularly in a finale that has Fox's character watching his own actions from the first film.