Bill And Ted Face The Music

This review may contain spoilers!

This is far more Bogus Journey than Excellent Adventure, a major bummer. I would give Bill And Ted Face The Music a 1.5/10.

Bill and Ted Face The Music sees our heroes continue in their efforts to create the song that will save all reality and unite humanity. However, when faced with an impending doomsday deadline the duo head into the future to steal the song from their future selves while their daughters travel to the past to assemble a most bodacious band. This film really succeeds comedically in a few scenes where it isn't trying to be funny; like in the original movies the nature of the scenes are absurd so comedy and hilarity ensue. It's moments like these which gave me a point of connection to the original films and also managed to leave me feeling entertained.

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, who played Ted and Bill respectively, still fall into these roles as if it were yesterday; the aloof delivery and unbelievable onscreen chemistry is as fresh as it was in the first Bill and Ted. William Sadler, who played Death, was one of the best performances in Bogus Journey and still such a pleasure to watch; I loved seeing Sadler go full rock star diva in the wake of his role exiting the Wyld Stallions between films. Hal Landon Jr., who played Chief Logan, has always been so consistently great as the stoic father figure to Reeves' Ted; I really enjoyed watching Landon Jr. continue to tirade and attempt to guide the two protagonists. Jillian Bell, who played Dr. Taylor Wood, was only a minor role in this film but such a great performance all the same; Bell did a very good job of reacting in quite a grounded way to a very absurd set of scenes which only really heightened the humour of the moments.

However, the best performance came from Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy Paine, who played Thea and Billie respectively. I really enjoyed seeing a new younger pair take a swing at all the familiar movements and expressions we normally get from Winter and Reeves. It just felt like these leading performers had more energy and enthusiasm for their scenes, which meant any time they were onscreen you felt the thrill of the adventure component of the story again. Weaving and Lundy-Paine bounce off one another effortlessly, they felt like best friends and shared a dynamic that outshined any other in the film. This was a stand out duo performance that really brought a bit of charm to this Bill and Ted movie. If there ever had to be another Bill and Ted, then it's Weaving and Lundy-Paine I'd like to see.

This film suffers majorly due to such a glaringly bad plot. The original films don't have stunning stories either, but the reason that works is because they know and under stand that. This film on the other hand tries to take itself a little too seriously for what has always been an absurd comedy series. The film starts with us discovering that Bill and Ted no longer are just responsible for uniting the human race but from preventing the end of all reality. The film really pushes this idea that it's 'bigger' and more 'significant than any other adventure our heroes have been on before. From there you watch Bill and Ted squabble through the complicated dynamics of being failed middle-aged adults, go through marriage counselling and worry about being a washed up band. The tone gets a lot more hum-drum, though the leads are still their goofy selves they've lost a lot of what made them so positive to watch. Even the adventure into the past to collect historical figures that the daughters go on isn't particularly well executed; there's a lot of justification and work into acquiring each character which takes a lot of fun out of that particular storyline. You can only watch so many scenes of Bill and Ted arguing with future versions of themselves, listen to poorly delivered scientific theories from Kid Cudi or hear a self-aware annoying robot tag along so many times before you have to admit that sometimes a nostalgic cult hit doesn't really need a sequel. The cinematography for the film doesn't look very well mapped out and there's not a lot in terms of style to the film. The special effects look like they tried which makes their failure so much worse, the charm of the old films was they knew that their special effects were bad but this movie refuses to play to that. The score for the film is very piecemeal and thrown together, while the soundtrack is pretty dull for a film that so heavily centres upon music.

Kristen Schaal, who played Kelly, is wasted as this film's go to for all things exposition and explanation; Schaal is a comedy powerhouse and it's a struggle to see her have to deliver a lot of very bland lines in all of her scenes. Anthony Carrigan, who played Dennis Caleb McCoy, had to be the worst role of the feature; this character was a throwaway goon up until the feature made him an annoying minor role with way more screen time and dialogue than he deserved. Erinn Hayes and Jayma Mays, who played Elizabeth and Joanna respectively, just did not function at all as the wives of the two main protagonists; a significant aspect of the story was around the marriages of these characters but you never saw any sort of connection or romance between them at all. Beck Bennett, who played Deacon, was completely shunted to the background as Reeves' brother; Bennett just never connects with any of the cast members he's supposed to be family with which really makes him a small blip in the film. Kid Cudi, who played himself, isn't fooling anyone as this hyperaware abundantly scientific version of himself; the spam of jargon that Cudi expels sounds learnt but with no real knowledge of what he's actually saying. Holland Taylor, who played The Great Leader, is quite a generic stoic leader from the future; her stern commitment to the end goal and little in terms of an emotional performance makes the future one of the least exciting settings in this film. DazMann Still, Jeremiah Craft, Sharon Gee, Patty Anne Miller and Daniel Dorr, who played Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Ling Lun, Grom and Mozart respectively, are almost worst historical figures in this film because they have to appear more convincing than historical cast members in previous films; Still and Craft in particular get the most screen time and as a result feel the most like they're just pushing pale imitations of their roles.