Back to the Future Part II: Great Scott, We're Going to 2015!

Back to the Future Part II is a wonderfully ambitious sequel that takes everything fun about the original and throws it into a much more complicated time-travel adventure. What works best is the chemistry between Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Marty and Doc are still an incredibly entertaining duo, and watching them jump between 1985, 2015, 1955, and the alternate 1985 keeps things exciting. The alternate future also gives the movie a surprisingly dark edge. The 2015 predictions are probably the most fun part to revisit today. Flying cars haven't arrived yet, but self-lacing shoes actually became a thing! And then there's the Chicago Cubs prediction. The movie has the Cubs winning the World Series in 2015 against the Miami Marlins. They got the year and opponent wrong, but they were remarkably close: the Cubs actually won in 2016, defeating the Cleveland Indians and ending their 108-year championship drought. And I have to mention the Jaws 19 hologram. Marty getting startled by a giant holographic shark and joking about how fake it looks is still hilarious. It's one of those futuristic jokes that somehow became even funnier with age. What doesn't work quite as well is the convoluted plot. The time-travel rules can become a little confusing, and the movie doesn't have quite the same emotional simplicity as the original. Some of the 2015 jokes also haven't aged perfectly. Even so, this is a sequel that deserves credit for taking a big swing instead of simply copying the first film. It's funny, imaginative, occasionally dark, and packed with memorable moments. Rating: 4.5/5 Great Scott! The future isn't exactly what they predicted, but they got the Cubs surprisingly close!