Filmed back-to-back with Part III, Back To The Future Part II is the darkest of the three time-travel movies.
Having returned from 1955 to 1985, young Marty McFly (Fox) runs into Doc Brown (Lloyd) who has just returned from the future (2015). It seems things are not good – Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue) are married, but Marty’s son is a bit of a disaster. To make matters worse, while they are there the future Biff (the bully from Part I) has got his hands on a reference book featuring the results of many sports events and steals the time-travelling DeLorean to return to 1955 to give to his teenage self, so when Marty and Doc return to 1985 it’s a completely different one from the world they left – Marty’s mum is married to Biff (who is insanely rich from his betting on events he knew the outcome of) and his dad has been murdered. So Marty has to travel back to 1955, avoiding himself from last time, to retrieve the book before Biff can use it.
Yes, it is all a bit head-scratching, but in a good way – while audiences in 1989 weren’t too keen, this actually improves with each viewing (note that it ends on a cliffhanger, so make sure you have Part III to hand). It’s not as funny as Part I, perhaps, and younger viewers may not follow all of the time shifts, but it’s entertaining viewing nonetheless.
Is Back To The Future Part II suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
There’s nothing truly scary here, but parents should note this is the darkest of the trilogy, and really only suitable for the over-10s.
If you like this, why not try: Back To The Future Part III, Men In Black, Big, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Amazing Mr Blunden,