Eden Umble

Dreadful. Noisy, clumsy, cartoony storytelling with cheesy direction that eliminates virtually any genuine moments. The characters are thin and simplistic - or, in the case of Paul Bettany’s angry, bitter WWII vet, thoroughly unpleasant. Robin Wright doesn’t have enough to do (a crime to waste this actress) and Hanks’s character Richard is weak and uninspired (again, it takes some doing to make Tom Hanks unappealing). Zemeckis is all in on the conceit of shooting a multi-generational story in the same physical space, even when it makes no sense. The overlapping frames (literal boxes within the shots) to convey different time periods quickly becomes a tiresome and confusing gimmick. I so wanted this to be wonderful, and unfortunately it misses on almost all levels.

I had really high hopes, but it’s simply terrible. Lame, awkward story, the new characters (Dafoe & Theroux) add nothing amusing. While the first one was quirky, sweet and fun, this sequel has a nasty undertone that feels off. (You have to work pretty hard to give the brilliant Catherine O’Hara almost nothing to do, and Keaton playing B-Juice again should be wicked fun but it feels rehashed). Ryder is not a good actress and looks goggle-eyed in every scene. Such a disappointment!