I wasn't planning to actually review all of the "Back to the Future" films last week, but after revisiting the masterpiece that is the first film, I just couldn't resist on reviewing the whole trilogy. Well, the second part was good for what it is, but a really disappointing follow-up to the first film when it came to the story and script. So, the third film must be even worse, right? Well, not really. Following right after the cliffhanger ending of the previous film where Emmett Brown got himself sent back to 1885, Marty McFly gets help from the 1955 Doc in order to send him back home to 1985, but not before learning that the Doc is going to die by the hands of "Mad Dog" Tannen a few days after he wrote his letter to Marty. Determined to save and return Doc back to the present time, Marty goes back to the Old West, damaging the DeLorean in the process. While Marty and Doc reunite and figure out how to get back home with the limited resources they have, the two get into their own share of drama with Marty being challenged to a duel with Tannen, while Doc starts falling in love with Clara, a schoolteacher who shares his love of science. The story got much more simplified compared to the second part, which is very welcome, given how that film was chaotic when it came to what it wanted to do for the story. However, the focus on making the story being set in the Old West serves a mixed bag. On the one hand, they do use the time period to their advantage when it comes on how Marty and Doc will get back home with the DeLorean. On the other hand though, the Old West is not really that interesting of a location as it's been very exposed in the media and the Western has created plenty of cliches that the film borrows. Although the writers do try to have fun with the time period as the humour and tone still remain strong and consistent, the setting of the Old West makes the third film kind of underwhelming when it comes to fresh or unique ideas. However, despite the overdone setting, the story itself is good, easy to follow and gives out the familiar suspense and engagement that the other films carry.
Micheal J. Fox as Marty is still enjoyable to watch. While the story isn't really centric or reliant on him compared to the previous films, I always appreciate Fox's performance. He's still a bit awkward in his environment and tries to act cool as much as possible, but I also like how he has both a lot of confidence and paranoia in this film when it comes to being a part of the Old West and the dangers he's about to face. Christopher Lloyd as Doc is the real star of the film though. Not only does the story revolve around him the most, but his character is the most evolved it's ever been. Doc has became more mellow in his time-travel experience and starts to question the consequences of time travel (or the lack thereof), while being eccentric when the scene demands it, and the love story between him and Clara is really charming to watch. The previously mentioned Clara, played by Mary Steenburgen, is a standard love interest for Doc Brown as she's generally sweet and loves discussing about astronomy with the scientist. Thomas F. Wilson returns to play Buford Tannen, an outlaw who's in the same lineage as Biff. Wilson is always fun to watch as the villain, and while Buford isn't as energetic due to the Western stereotype, Wilson still gives out a decent performance. With the case of the side characters, the film manages to improve on the memorability of these smaller roles, while also messing up on a few aspects. While the background characters such as the bar patrons, Chester the bartender, Buford's gang members, the mayor, and Marshal Strickland are likeable and offer lots of charm and laughs, McFly's ancestors are practically unnecessary in the story as there's no arc for them and it's really just an excuse to have Fox play an ancestor while Lea Thompson plays as his wife for literally no reason other than to have the actress involved in the film. This is also on top of George being even more sidelined than before, which is still insulting for Crispin Glover. Regardless, the main cast is as strong as ever and the minor characters actually get more to do. It's just that there was no need to have the McFly ancestors at all as it just takes up useless time of the film that could have been put more into the chemistry between Doc and Clara.
Robert Zemeckis clearly wanted the last film of the trilogy to be set in the Old West due to his love for the Western genre. While he once again shows that he's skilled on the directing chair as always, the issue comes with the fact that his homage and vision to make his own Western film backfires in his face a bit when it comes down to the setting. The 1885 Hill Valley just doesn't look fleshed-out or real. While there is some nice attention-to-detail and the background characters are lively, the town itself looks very much like a set on a studio backlot. I understand that it's due to the geography of the town and also just to make it feel more old-fashioned, but the depiction of Hill Valley just makes it feel shallow and generic when it's just the typical small, Western town. However, Dean Cundey's cinematography manages to ensure that the film looks great with lots of arial, panning, and establishing shots that allow the landscapes of the countryside to really shine. Even though the film is not as colourful compared to the previous films, Cundey uses great amounts of brown and natural lighting to his advantage. The score by Alan Silvestri actually improves from the previous film and creating a unique identity in the audio department as the iconic music is remixed into a western-sounding score. I also love the music that plays in the opening credits as Marty and Doc sleep in the latter's place. As for licensed songs, the third film doesn't utilize any due to the setting, although the band, ZZ Top, cameo as a band during a celebration and play one heck of a country tune. I did make a mistake in my last review by not mentioning that Part II did have a rock song when Marty enters the town square of the alternate 1985. The song however is still really forgettable and blends in with the chaotic ambience in the scene. The visual effects are far more downplayed in this film due to the Western setting. However, there are still some neat uses of the actor playing multiple role technique with Fox in the McFly estate and the climax revolving around the train heading straight to a cliffside in an attempt to speed up the DeLorean is a great set-piece with amazing use of miniatures and fire effects. Surprisingly, Zemeckis's direction fails to create a convincing Old West setting, but the rest of the filmmaking puts all of their effort to the setting and creating a high-stakes and visually striking adventure despite the less ambitious location and story. I also think the ending is great. Sure, the whole bit with Needles and the laughable screentime of Jennifer and the McFly family is contrived, but the ending revolving the theme of the future being unwritten and that it's up to how one lives their life is really profound stuff and leaves a satisfying end to a trilogy that really didn't need to be made.
"Back to the Future Part III" manages to be a nice, albeit flawed, conclusion. The setting of the Old West lends to a bunch of tired cliches and underwhelming continuation of the ambition of the previous film, the McFly ancestors are extremely unnecessary in the story and really only serve as a sight gag, and the overall location of the 1885 Hill Valley is just really poorly created and looks like a theme park attraction rather than a real, breathing town due to the surroundings and overall Western genre tropes. With that said, there's still plenty of good things. The story is far more straightforward to follow, the Western setting does at least offer some challenges for the characters, the tone and humour is still consistent, Marty and Doc feel more evolved than ever with strong performances by Fox and Lloyd, Clara offers a nice romantic subplot into the story and development of Doc's character, Wilson as Buford still chews the scenery as the enjoyable villain, Cundey's cinematography is his best work in the series, Silvestri's score stands out more and manages to sound different yet familiar to his original composing for the first film, the visual effects and stunts are really good at bringing the most ambitious climax in the franchise on screen, and Zemeckis manages to wrap up the trilogy with a nice ending and a little, if uncreative, take on the Western genre. I honestly feel that the sequels were mainly created just to have the impactful message at the end of this film, which might have caused some weaker writing as a result to create that specific ending. Even if I don't think a trilogy needed to exist, the "Back to the Future" films are all entertaining in their own right and are still charming to this day, even if the first one is undoubtedly the best.
Verdict: 7.5/10. A better follow-up compared to Part II, yet pales in comparison to the first film. Still, a fitting, if somewhat safe, conclusion to the trilogy.
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