Most people fondly remember Back to the Future II for the hoverboard scene, or predicting a Cubs World Series victory. Everyone seems to have forgotten that the majority of the movie actually takes place in an alternate dystopia where Biff turns into Donald Trump after finding a sports almanac from the future. And that’s not even mentioning the third act, which actually sends the characters back into the first movie! Despite your childhood memories, I’m here to tell you that Back to the Future II is not good. It lacks almost all of the charm from the first one, somehow forgetting why the movie it is constantly referencing was actually good in the first place. And a lot of this could be fixed with a few simple changes.
1. MAKE THE REASON FOR MARTY GOING TO THE FUTURE BETTER
At the end of the first movie, Doc tells Marty that he has to come with him to save his kids. When the second movie starts, we find out that somehow Marty’s son will end up on the cover of the national publication USA TODAY (lol) because he is busted for stealing. It’s clear that Zemekis didn’t actually have any interest in making Marty save his kids, so this plot gets wrapped up almost immediately, and then we move onto the actual plot of the movie, having to stop Biff from becoming Donald Trump. This hurts the structure and flow of the movie, and is a huge mistake.
Instead, the main plot of the movie should involve changing the course of Marty’s kid’s future. Just like in the first one, how Marty has to get his parents back together before he fades out of existence, this plot should be about making sure his kids stay on the right path.
For example, you could have Doc come get Marty and tell him that in the future Marty goes missing, and eventually is found dead. His death traumatizes his children, causing them to go down a dark path. This would create the great set up of having Marty have to track down his future self, and figure out what happens to him. He can see how wrong his life turns out, and also become close with his children while they all search for the missing future Marty.
2. MAKE MARTY’S KIDS REAL CHARACTERS (PLAYED BY REAL ACTORS)
A lot of the magic of the first movie revolves around the idea of hanging out with your parents when they were young, before they were just your uncool parents. Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover provide so much of the heart of the story, and we are really rooting for Marty’s parents to get together. Imagine how much less we would care about these characters if they were just Michael J Fox in makeup.
It is such a crazy decision to me that they didn’t form Marty and Jennifer’s kids into fully drawn out characters, casting them aside as nothing more than a few quick jokes. I can’t believe I have to say this, but Marty’s son and daughter need to be played by ACTUAL ACTORS. Imagine if instead we met a young Sam Rockwell and Julia Roberts as the two teenage kids in the future. These could have been great roles. And these two characters would complain about how lame their parents have become, and would get the help they need by being befriended by their parents who have come from the past.
Having Michael J Fox play both of his kids, and having the daughter reduced to just a quick drag joke, is part of the bigger problem with the Back to the Future sequels. Too often entire scenes, plots and characters are too self-aware, attempting to “charmingly” call back to the first movie, instead of having each movie stand on its own. Another example of this is having Thomas F. Wilson play every relative of Biff. He is great as Biff, but having him play his relatives only ends up reducing those characters.
3. HAVE MARTY AND JENNIFER BOTH BOND WITH THEIR FUTURE KIDS
Zemeckis admits that the ending to the first film was just supposed to be a gag, and that he didn’t actually consider making a sequel until much later. He regretted having Jennifer get in the car with Doc and Marty, since he felt that the adventure was only for the two of them, so he has her get knocked out and left in an alley for most of the movie. This was another hugely wasted opportunity (and not just because Claudia Wells was replaced).
Instead, both Marty and Jennifer should have to meet their future kids, and hang out with them. Marty tries to spend time with his son, learning futuristic music, and giving out fatherly advice that he himself needs to hear. And Jennifer can help their daughter steer clear of bad boys, and tell her to be a strong independent woman, something that she wishes she could do.
The story arc for both Marty and Jennifer should be two-fold: first, they get to see a glimpse of their own future, how their relationship goes south and how both give up on their dreams too easily. Marty needs to learn to stop taking Jennifer for granted, and that he won’t have a successful music career without hard work. Jennifer needs to realize that she deserves better than how Marty treats her, and that she has dreams of her own. While they wrestle with the idea of wondering whether they should actually end up together, they also get to see how bad they are in the future as parents, and how much they have messed up their kids. This is the second arc. Connecting to their future kids, and getting a crash course in being better parents. This is where you would get a lot of comedy and heart, which the second movie is sorely lacking.
And that’s it. Those three things would really go a long way in turning a sequel that has one memorable scene into an actually good movie. Back to the Future II is one of the most frustrating for me, since the first one has so much movie magic. What do you guys think? Thanks for reading!
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