Back to the Future Part III

Filmed alongside the second film, Back to the Future Part III was the final installment of the film series. Taking place immediately following the previous film’s events, it was the sixth-highest grossing film of 1990, earning $244.53 million. It starred everyone from the first two, plus Mary Steenburgen

While in 1955, Marty (Michael J. Fox) is given a letter from Doc (Christopher Lloyd) notifying that he had become trapped in 1885 and makes plans to head back to 1985. But he finds a tombstone with Doc’s name dated six days after the letter was written. Marty must then travel to 1885 in order stop Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) from killing him.

This may be the weakest of the trilogy, but that doesn’t stop it from being a good and fun movie. It also presents a brand new problem in the realm of getting back to the present. Instead of not being able to have the power for the Flux Capacitor, they now don’t have any fuel and need to find a way to get the car to run in a time before the Model T.

Seeing the clock tower being built is also a nice addition and does well in showing the humble origins of Hill Valley. The running gag of Marty waking up from a head injury is also continued and comes to a nice head here.

Having Doc fall in love even though he really doesn’t want to is interesting and finally gives him a dilemma instead of just Marty. Going back and forth throughout the movie on what he really wants to do is very relatable and helps to solidify his choice at the end.

This still passes the Edge of Satisfaction and lands at #3 for Comedy. 

Back to the Future II

Four years after the success of Back to the Future, Zemeckis decided to make two more. The first sequel, Back to the Future Part II picks up exactly where the first film left off. With almost everyone reprising their roles, plus Flea as Needles, the film grossed over $300 million and was the third-highest grossing film of 1989.

Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) takes Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue) to 2015 to save his son from trouble. Successful, they find the elderly Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) stole the DeLorean and made his younger self rich. Now with 1985 made into a dystopia, Marty has to return to 1955 to set right what once went wrong.

Yes, this film has launched a few memes that have gotten very old, very fast. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. In fact, it’s almost as good as the first.

The future portion of the film looks very good and it’s quite noticeable that a lot of effort went into making it look like it actually is the future. And the clock tower still not being fixed is an amusing addition. The DeLorean also has a couple great additions, like using trash as fuel and it being able to fly. Once again, just how these work isn’t explained, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s future tech!

The alternate 1985 is also great. Everyone’s had the dream of being able to control the country or world and this shows what would happen if someone so self-absorbed and narcissistic as Biff did so. It also displays the relationship between the abuser and the abused quite well in how Biff controls Lorraine. And since Biff controls everything, she can’t go anywhere anyway.

In going back to 1955, Marty has to stay out of sight from his past self, currently working on the events of the first movie. However, the movie never strains itself in how he continues to avoid himself.

There is a slight continuity error though. In the first film, Doc wants to see who wins the next few World Series and make a bit of money. But in this one, he explicitly condemns it and says he didn’t invent the time machine to win at gambling. He might have had development between films but everything else about him is the same.

Not better than the first, but still passes the Edge of Satisfaction.

#2

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

After Disney launched the Touchstone brand, it was time to do a hybrid fantasy comedy. The result was Who Framed Roger Rabbit, released June 24, 1988. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, of Back to the Future fame with Steven Spielberg as an executive producer. Based on the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, the film starred Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd. The film made $329.8 million worldwide and sparked a renewed interest in the Golden Age of Animation.

Set in 1947 Los Angeles, cartoon characters live alongside human beings as an ethnic minority. Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer), a Toon movie star, is on the run from Judge Doom (Lloyd) after having been accused of murdering cartoon prop maker Marvin Acme. His only hope is the alcoholic private investigator Eddie Valiant (Hoskins) who refuses to work for Toons since his brother was killed by one. However, Valiant is sucked into the investigation and finds much more than he expected.

Hoskins was quite the actor and this film just shows it. He manages to effectively become one half of a comedic duo when the other half wasn’t even there. For most of the film, he’s just talking to himself. But Hoskins loved acting so much and had so much faith in the film itself that you can’t tell. And that’s not even going into his character.

Eddie is a racist. Pure and simple. He hates Toons and will never work for them after what one did to his brother. It’s not a good reason, but it’s a reason that shows how easily reactive we are in situations that affect us so much. And that’s even before the movie starts. He’s even more realistic in that he can’t let go and he hates Roger because of something that he had no power over. And Roger’s antics don’t help. At least not at first. It’s not until he he’s been exposed to Roger continually talking about the need for laughter and faced with necessity to face his past and go into Toontown does he realize just what an ass he’s been and that he can’t keep his mind focused on the past. It’s also gradual because he doesn’t keep hating on Roger, he slowly warms up to him before he has to go to Toontown.

And only then can he really face Judge Doom. And that confrontation is pure gold. It might seem like it comes out of nowhere, what with the athleticism and acrobatics, but remember, an early shot showed that he and his brother worked for the circus. He’s using skills he already knew and a newfound love for humor. And it’s really fun to watch.

Doom is also an interesting character. He’s obviously evil, and doesn’t care that everyone knows it either. But the interesting part comes in the subtlety that’s involved in personifying the character. Lloyd didn’t blink at all while on camera. Just to give him more of an inhuman feel. And it’s thanks to Doug Walker, that I noticed something else. In every scene he’s in, his clothing is flapping in some sort of breeze. Even if there’s no source. He’s just a villain masquerading as law and doesn’t care who knows it. That’s evil personified and he does a really good job.

Most of the side characters are pretty fun and the animation isn’t that bad either, especially for how the Toons interact with the humans. And Eddie being immersed in Toontown is one of the better parts of the film. It gets even better when realized that all the animation is hand drawn, which is a real feat in what they do with the humans. While it’s not as vibrant as Elliot was in Pete’s Dragon, the way it’s done helps to blend in more with the noir-ish type of film.

Also, not only is this film great for its content, acting and characters, but for the impact it had. If this film wasn’t made, then the general public wouldn’t have had a renewed desire for the animation present in the Golden Age. We would have had Batman: TAS, The Simpsons, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Beavis and Butthead, Rugrats, Cow and Chicken and countless other cartoons would never have been made. Nor would we have Pixar or the Disney Renaissance. This film is partly responsible for all of those.

Final Call: The best hybrid I’ve seen. It’s a great film and had a great cultural impact. #11.