1989 sequelRating: 11/20
Plot: Doc Brown and Marty have to travel into the future to save the latter's kid from making a terrible mistake. While there, Biff steals the Delorean and travels back to 1955 to give his younger self a sports almanac. Biff's then able to build a fortune and make life really miserable in 2015 despite everybody getting the chance to fly around on hover boards. So the time travelling duo has to travel back to 1955 to fix things. And it all somehow pisses Crispin Glover off!
Me, minutes ago: "And it's only the first part of a trilogy. I'm sure the next one has to be great, too!"
Whoops! This one stinks! It can all be explained with a simple mathematical equation, the Glover Theorem:
Good movie with Crispin Glover - Crispin Glover = stinky movie
This is a complete mess from the get-go and gets my vote for most dissatisfying sequel of all time. The performers I enjoyed so much in the first movie are so over-the-top and sickeningly silly. Fox and Wilson have multiple roles, and instead of being clever like Zemeckis probably thinks it all is, it's just plain stupid. I was embarrassed for everyone involved. Of course, Zemeckis is also the same guy who gave us that creepy Polar Express garbage (possibly one of the worst movies ever made and so far the only movie that has made me wish the plane I was on would crash into a mountain) and who apparently thinks a remake of Yellow Submarine is necessary. The future whatever-town-that-is looks ridiculous, the special effects get in the way of the storytelling, and we're rushed through the fairly bizarre first-half story in a way that convinced me it was scribbled down furiously by either a coke addict, Robin Williams, or both instead of being written. The second half of the film is a little better, and things are almost salvaged with all the clever back to the past in Back to the Future moments, stuff that people who get off on time travel can really get excited about. But it's unfortunately too little, too late and nothing can save this from being gross.
Speaking of gross--I forgot to mention this in the Back to the Future write-up, but these movies have to have some sort of record for most product placement. Geez Louise! There aren't many scenes in these two movies that you can watch without seeing an advertisement for something.
Oh well. At least Crispin Glover made a wad of dough from this movie without having to do an ounce of work. I'm giving the movie a bonus point just for that.
You're exactly right about this being a mess and a huge dissappointment. As for worst sequel, allow me to mention "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (Barry might fight for "The Exorcist 2").
ReplyDeleteWhereas the original was great fun, this is just unpleasant and joyless stuff. I have seen the original about 15 times. I have seen this twice, which is more than enough. A 10.
Is that "10" with the "Crispin Glover Making a Wad of Dough Despite Not Having Anything to Do with the Movie" bonus?
ReplyDeleteJoyless is a good word. The fun is kind of sucked out of this one, and there are a lot of mean moments.
I saw Part One. I was dragged against my will to see Part Three without seeing Part Two first. Somebody convinced me that Part Three would make sense without Part Two. I think I could have gotten by without EVER seeing Part Two actually.
Review for Part Three coming later...