Back to the Future: Part III

The Back to the Future saga comes to a close with this exciting and completely satisfying capper that follows Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Doc (Christopher Lloyd) as they find themselves in the Old West, with the characters’ eventual efforts at making their way back home stymied by a predictably tenacious villain (Thomas F. Wilson’s Mad Dog) and a love interest (Mary Steenburgen’s Clara Clayton) for Doc. Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, armed with Bob Gale’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced adventure that benefits substantially from its proliferation of engrossing set-pieces and the continued (and expected) chemistry between Fox and Lloyd’s respective characters – with, in terms of the latter, the actors’ note-perfect work here heightening the impact of their scenes together and ensuring that Marty and Doc remains as sympathetic and captivating as ever. (And it’s worth noting, too, that Steenburgen’s winning turn as Doc’s love interest elevates the proceedings on a continuing basis, while Wilson’s status as the series’ under-the-radar MVP continues with a wildly entertaining portrayal of the volatile Mad Dog.) The pervasively spellbinding atmosphere ensures that Back to the Future: Part III‘s relative absence of sci-fi elements is hardly noticeable at all, ultimately, and it’s hard to deny, certainly, the visceral, enthralling impact of the picture’s nail-biter of a climactic stretch – which, when coupled with an absolutely perfect final scene, cements the movie’s place as a near flawless installment within an iconic and downright indelible cinematic trilogy.

**** out of ****