Rolling down a hill

Rating: Null/10 (27 July 2003)

Back to the Future Part II starts with a lot of promise (and by that I don't mean flying through the clouds with the credits in a manner reminiscent of the beginning of Lea Thompson's earlier film Red Dawn). The first 50 minutes are simultaneously enjoyable and thought-provoking, but, as is the case with most sequels, the interesting elements of the original, the script, is skimped on in order to appeal to money.
*Spoiler Start* Going to the "near-future" (2015 is closer now than 1985) was interesting, if hokey, but I found its vision of being nonstop gags to get tiresome. Let's face it Blade Runner will probably remain the dominant future in all its darkened neon glory.
The return to the Alternate 1985 starts interesting, but things start going downhill when the plot gets in the way. Zemeckis wanted something dark, but winds up sugarcoating it like he did with the more disturbing segments of Forrest Gump.
Returning further to 1955 was a completely out of line and caused the timeline to get so distorted that I threw down my pad and pen that I was taking notes with and snorted in disgust. That segment was the biggest rash on the script.
Worst of all, the end brings us to the lowest installment in the trilogy. My oh my, how things could have been simpler. *Spoiler End*
Nonetheless, I found this film more worthwhile than other sequels I've had to see. Christopher Lloyd saves the day with his almost-typecast acting as Dr. Brown again. Everyone else, even Michael Fox, winds up being a cardboard prop-up merely spouting words. The depth of the original was gone. Zemeckis gets away from his Roger Rabbit shenanigans and creates something unique albeit confusing, but his camera is always looking for the 'money shot'.
Overall, an interesting but flawed movie. Zemeckis would make some improvements with Forrest Gump and Death Becomes Her, but, other than that, he too is on the downhill slide. 3 out of 5 stars.