Reviews Film / Back To The Future 1

Part 1 is a timeless classic, but Parts 2 and 3 were unnecessary

The original "Back To The Future" film is a wonderful example of a cinematic classic. It gets everything right. Every character, line of dialogue, scene, plot point, joke, special effect and moral was implemented extraordinarily well, and I'll never get tired of it. The quintessential time travel adventure masterpiece and one of my favourite movies of all time, "Back To The Future" is an absolute must-see.

And then they made two sequels. Two very unnecessary and rather tedious sequels.

OK, don't get me wrong here. BTTF Parts 2 and 3 aren't awful. They aren't bad enough to make you want to turn them off at the earliest opportunity. They are, however, hugely disappointing when judged next to the first installment. To me, they didn't need to be made. There was no proper reason to continue the excellent story.

Part 2 is the better of the two, but not by that much. Thankfully, it does have some decent aspects. The bizarre future world we see at the beginning of the movie is pretty cool, the interaction between Marty and Doc Brown is still mostly funny, and there are some cleverly adventurous scenes throughout it. However, the plot of this movie is inconsistent and over-complicated. The original movie's depiction of time travel didn't make much sense, but the movie was put together so well that it still felt real. The movie made us believe that we could one day use a car as a time machine. The second movie, on the other hand, features a plot with double the paradoxes but half the realism. It also has a more mean-spirited and chaotic atmosphere, with far less heart, magic and vibe, and this greatly damages the film's impact. The first movie was involving and made us part of its world, but the second does little to make the viewer want to join the adventure.

But instead of ending with Part 2, the filmmakers decided to throw in a Part 3 as well. And it's tedious. In fact, the third movie is so insubstantial that it makes the second movie somewhat forgivable. Sure, Part 3 has plenty of silly cowboy antics, but by this point it just doesn't feel like Back To The Future anymore. At least Part 2 tried to replicate the original's spirit. Part 3 just exists because it had to. It isn't horrible, but I found it unengaging, uninspired and pointless. Thankfully, the near-perfect original will always be there, and it's the only one I'll ever watch.