Have a nice future

Rating: 8/10 (27 August 2004)

It vexes me no end just how many people are in the habit of calling this the weakest of all the 'Back to the Future' movies  I'm not going to claim that it's any real patch on the 1985 original, of course, but then again the original was undeniably one movie of a special kind  innovative, fast-paced and sharply-written, words cannot describe the kicks I still get out of watching it after all these years. Try as they may, neither sequel was quite able to match this golden standard, but at the very least 'Back to the Future Part III' is on equal par with the second film (and at most it's heaps better). While you can look back on 'BTTF Part II' as a loud, flashy and perfectly enjoyable theme park ride of a flick, oozing with thrills and spills but of the somewhat more superficial sort, 'BTTF Part III' has succeeded in toning down all the hyperactivity by a notch, devoting a bigger thrust of time to plot and character and thus making it the superior follow-up all-round. Here, the real backbone of this trilogy  the friendship between Marty McFly and Doc Brown  is given a lot more weight than in the previous round, throwing the unlikely duo into all sorts of perilous situations to test their loyalty to each other, and earning it points for warmth and heart. As before, both Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd have tackled their roles brilliantly, and the best laughs continue to come from Marty's sweet naïveness in contrasting the present with the past (if that moon-walking sequence doesn't do it for you, you seriously need to order a new sense of humour  go try your luck on Ebay). Plus, Doc Brown's new love interest in Mary Steenburgen doesn't serve this movie badly either, even allowing the screenplay a couple of quiet and reflective moments to finally consider some of those philosophical musings that might just cross your mind when you mess with the space time continuum.
So although a massive improvement on the 1989 instalment, there are reasons why this never manages to pack quite the same punch as its big father film of 1985. The biggest problem that 'BTTF III' has in setting itself primarily in the Wild West is that it's virtually impossible to pedal clear of the standard clichés (not to mention forced Western accents) you'll find attached to any level of parody of this genre. And while the vast majority of parallel scenes from the other BTTF movies that are echoed fondly throughout work to good effect, I for one was getting a little tired of Thomas F Wilson always having to crash head-first into a pile of horse manure (it was funny the first couple of times). There's also the rather messy subplot concerning Marty's personal future that had to be carried over here from the previous flick, drilling in a good few extra plot-holes as it goes  but I'm a big enough fan to turn a blind eye for the most part. In the end, the overall air of this film is far too breezy and good-natured for any of its flaws to have any lasting detriment - it's very entertaining, you can warm to and understand the characters, and with action-adventure movies like this that's all that really matters.
Everything considered, in concocting a fun and thoroughly feel-good final chapter to close this adventure and do the original movie justice, they succeeded well enough, enabling you to walk away with pure satisfaction in your heart. After all this time, this still emerges as one of the most memorable and enjoyable cinematic trilogies ever conceived. Godfather what?
Grade: a very strong B+