Back to the Sequel

Sequels are so often made hastily and poorly. They are made to capitalize on of the success of the original and cash in once more by recycling jokes, storylines and characters that audiences recognize. It is so rare that sequels are made well that it becomes noteworthy when a sequel actually turns out to be decent.

Let’s take a minute to acknowledge some of the best sequels. There’s the few that are undoubtedly better than the original: The Dark Knight, Empire Strikes Back, X2: X-Men United, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Bourne Supremacy. Another few are arguably as good if not better: Aliens, Godfather Part II, Spiderman II, Die Hard With A Vengeance (yes.) There’s more to mention but in this discussion of great sequels one always seems absent. What better day to bring this seeming injustice to light than October 21^st, 2015: The day that Marty McFly travels to in Back to the Future Part II.

Back to the Future Part II is bigger in scope: alternate realities, a dystopian 1985 where the world is turned into a ZZ Top music video with Biff as the star and a lot more time travel than the original. There are plenty of references to the original without it being the same movie over again. The way they re-do the Hill Valley skateboard chase scene but with hover boards is a great homage to the original. Marty then goes back to 1955 and the original movie to literally replay some of the most memorable scenes from a different point and voice and as background music to the current movie at hand If you are still with me after that sentence, you have to agree that’s pretty awesome.

This is all not to say that the original Back to the Future is in any way worse or less influential than its first sequel. However, Back to the Future Part II deserves its place on the Mount Rushmore of Movie Sequels. Okay, it probably wouldn’t make the Mount Rushmore of Movie Sequels but like at least the Hall of Fame. Any way, there wouldn’t be a #BackToTheFutureDay without the sequel and it should get its due, without it we would instead have to acknowledge that October 21^st is Kim Kardashian’s birthday. Damn, I guess I just did.

Some ending Back to the Future thoughts:

-Elizabeth Shue as Jennifer in the Part II makes you forget that someone else played Jennifer in the first one.

-Billy Zane is in Back to the Future I and II and Zoolander I and II. He’s a cool dude.

-Michael J. Fox plays Marty, Old Marty, Marty Jr. and Marlene McFly in Part II. The only comparable acting performance is Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.

–Jaws 19 looks better than Jaws 2, Jaws 3-D, Jaws: The Revenge and all of the Snarknado movies.

-Look where putting money on the Cubbies has you now! Let’s Go Mets. Sorry, had to do it.

-I still kind of wish my senior yearbook quote was: Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.

-Finally, on the actual October 21^st, 2015 still not sure how or why Doc Brown, an aging, disgraced nuclear physicist and Marty a high school ‘slacker’ are friends, but do we care?