Pros: More humor and adventure across time
Cons: Some plot
threads only work if you've seen Part 2
The Bottom Line:
Goes back to the past
For fun take on the Old West
Great trilogy ends
"Everybody Everywhere Will Say that Clint Eastwood is a Yellow Bellied Coward."
Since Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III were
filmed back to back, it's not that surprising that part II ends with a
cliffhanger. Part III literally picks up
as the second one ends and takes the story in a fun new direction.
At the end of the second movie, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox)
is stranded in 1955. He enlists the help
of the Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) living in 1955 to get the time machine
hidden for 70 years back in working order.
But along the way, they discover that the future Doc Brown is shot in
the back in 1885. Marty can't let his
friend die, so he heads back to save his friend and bring him back to the
present day.
Arriving in the old west, Marty finds Doc living happily as
the town blacksmith. But their plans to
return to the present day are hampered when Doc meets Clara Clayton (Mary
Steenburgen), the new school teacher.
It's love at first site for both of them. Will that alter Doc's plans? And will he die in a few days or will Marty die
in his place?
Despite a bit of a recap of where we left things, many of
the plot threads introduced but not resolved in the second movie are finally
dealt with here, the biggest being Marty's reaction to being called
chicken. To really get the final scene,
you've got to have seen the second.
Those already familiar with the first two will find
themselves enjoying this one, too. While
the first two really focused on the McFly family, this one focuses more on Doc,
and it's nice to see him in the spotlight for a change. As always, there's romance, comedy, and
worries about time paradoxes. I've heard
some theories about paradoxes from the events in this film, but I don't see
them. In fact, this series continues to
be the best use of time travel without paradoxes that I've found.
The old west setting also makes for a nice change of
pace. Don't worry, they still manage to
get in a few running gags from the series, however.
The acting has always been great here, and I find nothing to
argue about this this installment. The
leads are great, and Mary Steenburgen makes a nice addition to the cast. As with the second installment, Michael J.
Fox plays a McFly relative, and I think he does a better job than he did in the
last film.
The movie isn't heavy on special effects, but those that are
here work for me outside of few obviously enhanced explosions.
The whole trilogy is awesome. MJF and Christopher Lloyd are still great together third time around, and the cinematography and music is spot on. It works extremely well as a great conclusion, a great sci-fi comedy and a great homage to the western genre.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on all fronts. These are just fun flicks.
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