Movie #47 - Back to the Future Part II

Back to the Future Part II
Universal Pictures
1989 - Rated PG - 1 hr 48 min
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, Elisabeth Shue

Oh, Biff! How much trouble can one cranky old man really cause? His character is a real jerk, but he's the kind of jerk we all love to hate. Cuz didn't we all know a Biff of our very own back in high school? His name wasn't likely Biff, but you catch my drift.

Anyway, watching these back to back is something I've never done. We pick up seamlessly where we left off (four calendar years after, four cinema seconds later). Except we've now added Elisabeth Shue! Hello, Elisabeth! We all know how much I love her, and her babysitting dramas. Anyway, now she's a knocked-out girlfriend in a time machine who ends up meeting her older self and passing out! Now that's plot, folks.

Again, Zemeckis and company are sticking steadfastly to their own rules as they travel ahead to go back-back, to fix ahead and then ahead-ahead. You still with me? On paper, this movie makes your head sping. In practice, you can actually follow it.

That right there is an achievement.

So we get everything sorted out. Biff is again repressed, Dad is again alive, Marty still has his hot wheels and of course, he gets the girl. Until! Oh no! Doc! Doc goes back to the past, and Western Union has been waiting for Marty. Thank God for Western Union (how much add money did they give Spielberg for this anyway?)

Enter cheesy-ass Western preview. And they're making a Part III! I've heard Mike talk about this "cool preview" and how psyched he was to see it in the theater. I think you have to truly be 8 to think it's cool.

On to the promised Part III!