Friday

Despite my criticisms yesterday, I do love the Back to the Future films. They succeed in so many ways, but I think the two actors and their chemistry together is what makes them stand out. Watching them again recently I was particularly impressed by the second movie: it's the perfect sequel. In a sequel you want to be reminded of the best bits from the first film, and then have some extra ones on top of that. Back to the Future: Part II actually replays the first film from a new angle. Initially, Marty re-enacts the scene around the town square from the 1950s in the future. Then, he goes back to the 1950s and actually interacts with scenes from the first film. We see him literally behind-the-scenes at the school dance, orchestrating events in order to help his past self. We even get to see him watching action from part one - when his father punches Biff - and enjoying it, as we did. It's genius. Perhaps some of the in-jokes are too easy - it's a simple way to delude your audience into thinking they're clever - but there are so many of them, and they become quite complex by the third movie, that you have to admire the screenwriting here. This is just one of those movies, or trilogies, for which everything came together and worked, and I doubt even the director would be able to tell you exactly why.