Back to the 80s - the weakest part of the trilogy

Rating: 6/10 (17 October 2005)

SPOILERS So as Marty travels to the future and then again back to the past, so we must return to the 1980s (albeit the end). Returning successfully four years after the original film, "Back to the Future Part II" was a step down for all involved. Shot back to back with the superior, and more spoof like, third part, this second encounter was notable more for off screen incidents than for it's obscure storyline. Still, when all is said and done, it's still a part of one of the finest trilogies ever, and easily the best set of films to emerge from the 1980s.
Just back from 1955 and wanting to spend time with his recently morphed girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue taking over from Claudia Wells), Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) is rudely interrupted by eccentric friend Dr Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd). Dragged to 2015, Marty is forced to fight for his family's future. Upon returning home to the 1980s however, Marty fast discovers that events have taken a drastically different course.
There's something not quite right about the second part of this trilogy. Attempting to guess about the future, it stretches itself out away from the realistic past and into the realms of dramatic 80s inspired fiction. Dumping 80s nostalgia cafés into 2015 (most of us try to forget about it, let alone open a café to it), it portrays an optimistic love for the period that fashion forgot.
Of course, the film isn't helped by off screen conflicts. Whilst you can forgive the recasting of Jennifer after Wells' health made her return impossible, you can't help but feel that perhaps Crispin Glover had the right idea by turning down the chance to reprise the role of Marty's father George. Shown purely from archive footage, Glover's role is played in the future by Jeffrey Weissman. In his defence, Weissman does an acceptable job, but truthfully, it's too easy to miss Glover.
Out of those who do return, again Lea Thompson does a strange and quirky job as Marty's mother through three periods. Ultimately though, playing Marty, Marty Jnr and Marlene McFly, it is Michael J Fox who really comes out of this film glowing. He puts on a mature performance and the only shock is that he didn't go on to even greater things after this (up until his illness all but ended his career anyway).
Again though, it really is hard to know what to say about "Back to the Future Part II" now. More of a stop gap to lead us into the wild west of Part III, the rare joy is spotting moments of trivia (an 8 year old Elijah Wood in 2015 for example), but those are far too few in number.
It's a shame really that the second part of this trilogy couldn't have been better. Whilst the first was an intelligent piece of cinema and the third was more of a fun conclusion, this middle section does tend to feel slightly preachy. It attempts to show us what the future would be like, and yet it bases this upon the 1980s. Predicting the future is always a nightmare scenario, and sadly they really don't manage it here. The weakest part of a magnificent trilogy, but a part of it none the less.