Review of Back to the Future II

Movie #23 - Back to the Future II

Bad. That's the only adjective that comes to mind when I think of Back to the Future II. Bad. Why was this movie ever made? They should've quit while they were ahead with the original. No wonder I don't remember Part II as much as Part I; it's because it's god awful.

What makes Part II so awful?
1) They revisit 1955, so that means we have to see all the same characters and all the same events again. Boring.
2) The story focuses on Biff. No one cares.
3) The futuristic elements are ridiculous, and it makes the movie cheesy. Granted this was made in the late 80's, where people honestly thought this was what the future would look like, but the special effects, outfits, EVERYTHING were just DUMB.
4) Lorainne had backbone when she was in high school, so why would she cave and marry Biff all those years later? To me, it's not realistic. She yells at Biff, hits Biff, rejects Biff, but then all of sudden marries him.
5) The acting is bad. I mean Michael J. Fox as regular 1985 Marty and Christopher Lloyd as Doc are great, as always, but the "future" Marty, Biff, Lorainne...and oh god, Jennifer and Marty's kids, don't even get me started on how stupid it was to see Michael J. Fox as the daughter. I'm talking laugh out loud ridiculous.
6) Not only do they revisit 1955, but the writing revisits all of the old jokes too. "Manure, I hate manure." Okay, that was amusing in the first film, but now it's just repetitive.
7) Why does the entirety of society turn violent and gross because Biff has money? I don't understand. Hello, writer, is anybody in there? Think, McFly, because your story doesn't make sense. Even if Biff does own the police, like he says he does, wouldn't you think they would still enforce the law? I wouldn't think Biff would want everyone destroying his hotel/casino (honestly, who knows what it is really).
8) They recast Jennifer's role for some odd reason. I mean, really? She's in the movie for like 5 minutes. Was it really necessary to recast her? If you didn't recast her, then you could've saved money on re-shooting the first...last...okay, the first scene of Part II, but the last scene of Part I. Ya follow? Yeah, I didn't either.
9) If you're going to re-shoot scenes, make sure your wardrobe specialist takes continuity photos. Michael J. Fox has a different hair-do, Doc's make-up and hair are different, the new Jennifer doesn't look anything like the old Jennifer...it's sad. And nice try and fixing that error by having Doc "wearing a disguise" because he looks younger. Ugh.
10) Why does Marty reach for the almanac so slow EVERY time?! Just grab that thing and GO!

One thing I did like in the movie was that it hinted to the third film. Why they had a third film planned when this movie was still being made was beyond me, but I guess they were being optimistic. In the Delorean, when the time screen keeps acting up, it flashes January 1, 1885. If you're knowledgeable in all things Back to the Future, you know that the third film takes place in 1885. At the end of Part II, Doc writes Marty a letter saying he's been in 1885 for eight months (the letter is dated September 1, 1885). The date that has been flashing throughout Part II is the date the Delorean travels to when the lightning strikes it. That's a nice little gem to catch while watching the movie.

One other little thing I noticed...

 ...Elijah freaking Wood is in the movie! Look at baby Elijah!

Oh yeah, and this fun fact...

...I've seen so many fakes on the internet. It's called research people. Watch the dang movie.

So yeah, I feel like I wasted two hours of my life watching this movie - which is sad because I love the original so much. This review will probably get even worse after watching Part III because I already know I hate that movie.

Overall, I give Back to the Future II a 2 out of 5 stars.