After saving his future in 1955, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) just wants to go back to his normal 80s life. But only moments later, from his perspective, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) shows back up and tells him that his future is in jeopardy. Arriving in the far-flung year of 2015, Marty must keep his teenaged son (Michael J. Fox) from participating in a robbery organized by Griff Tannen (Tom Wilson) and thereby ruining his life. That's foiled pretty easily because Griff is very stupid, but Marty spies an almanac for sale in a vintage shop and decides to ensure a good future for himself and descendants the old-fashioned way: cheating at gambling. Doc reads him the riot act and tosses the almanac. Chastened, Marty returns to 1985, only to find that it's become a total hellhole dominated by an enormous casino owned by Biff Tannen (Tom Wilson). Turns out Biff had been eavesdropping and was somehow smart enough to take the almanac from the trash, figure out how to correctly program and operate a DeLorean time machine to give the book to his younger self, and then return it to its exact spot so Marty and Doc could get back home. But not smart enough to look for the broken top of his cane in the car which is how Marty and Doc discover his involvement. Now, to save his present, Marty must return to 1955 and steal the almanac from Biff without running into his past self and causing a paradox.
It's hard to watch Michael J. Fox when he was young without feeling really sad. He had such an easy athleticism and natural physicality. So that's depressing.
Seeing what 1989 thought 2015 was going to look like was enlightening, even if it was completely wrong, and only gets funnier in this the year of our Lady Beyoncé 2024. The stuff it does get right (the nostalgia for things that never existed, unnecessary sequels) remains timeless.
Also, I don't know that I ever paid attention to how much of an homage? rip-off? in-joke? this is for Indiana Jones. Marty's disguise in 1955(2) is a fedora and leather jacket; at one point, he snatches the fallen hat before a curtain can fall on it, he hangs on to the side of a car in a tunnel like Indy on the tank. The whole scene in Skinner's office is Indy trying to get the idol. I get it, Spielberg was an executive producer, but they already had the joke about Jaws 19 and the shark still looking fake.
I think that's the biggest difference between watching this movie 20 years ago and now. Now, the hint that a third movie would be set in the Wild West would be the museum clip where they named and showed Biff's antecedent (side note: how does this man even have a lineage? What woman per generation agrees to breed with him? Is it like a Rumplestiltskin/Faustian bargain type thing?) and that would be it. That's a fun easter egg. But in 1989, there's not only the museum scene, there's the entire Western Union ending and a sizzle reel functioning as a full trailer. The movie doesn't trust the audience to get the joke or put 2 and 2 together. So then it feels pandering. And kind of ruins the immersion, at least for me.
If you want to stream it, get ready to pay actual dollars because it is only available to rent or buy. If you can get a bundle deal, that might be worth it but I cannot in good conscience recommend paying money to watch just the sequel.
No comments:
Post a Comment