REVIEW: Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
The “Bill & Ted” franchise, created by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, has an interesting place amongst the oeuvre of pop culture franchises. It’s not a popular prestige series like “Star Wars” or the better known time travel staple “Back to the Future,” but these ones have always had a place as those little movies that could. Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan have endured as cult icons of the 80’s and 90’s due to their likability, simplicity, and cartoonish charm. Much of which is on display in their belated, flawed-but-fun sequel “Bill and Ted Face the Music.”
Nearly thirty years after their “Bogus Journey” to hell and back, the now middle-aged bodacious duo (played once again by Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter) are now fathers of two like-minded young women, balancing fledgling careers/marriages, and have yet to fulfill their destiny as the great ones by writing the song to unite the world. However, with the help of their old mentor Rufus’ daughter, Bill and Ted now must race against the clock in an out of this world journey to write that song.
“Bill and Ted Face the Music,” directed by “Galaxy Quest’s” Dean Parisot, is a modest ending to the “Bill and Ted” franchise that recaptures a lot of the magic of the first film but also a lot of the convoluted nature of the second film. Not a masterpiece by any means but it certainly didn’t need to be anything more than what it is. What it is is a fun, charming, and undemanding film that is sure to put a smile on franchise devotees’ faces as they’re swept up in callbacks to the original films, returning cast members, and some wonderfully creative scenarios involving the two leads.
If you go into this movie expecting a clear-cut time-travel/world-hopping science fiction film that’s going to adhere to all of the previously established rules of other films, clearly you haven’t seen a “Bill and Ted” movie. The film is built primarily around two storylines: the first involving Bill and Ted as they go from future to future trying to find the versions of themselves that have written the song. It’s a hilarious play on the “Other Usses” from the first two films that gives Reeves and Winter plenty to play with and are often creative and quite fun.
The parallel storyline involving Bill and Ted’s daughters (played by Bridgette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving) travelling through various time periods to find famous musicians to help their Dads write said song is fun if familiar. While I did enjoy both the daughters and how Matheson/Solomon avoid all of the terrible cliches that could’ve been done with them, it’s hard not to acknowledge the fact that this plotline is essentially a soft-reboot of the first film. That said, it’s not insultingly similar, nor does it take up a ton of the film. Plus the characters, and their respective actresses, sell a lot of it as they are perfect extensions of their fathers’ personalities.
As with the first two, much of this film’s strength comes from the dynamics of our two leads. Winter and Reeves once again have great chemistry and are easily likable, but while Winter slips seamlessly back into Bill’s shoes, Reeves still feels like he’s in John Wick-mode. I’m not quite sure what it is but despite his natural charm and likability, Reeves seems uncomfortable in the role with Ted’s typically cheerful California-infused surfer dude voice seemingly trying to break out from beneath the layers of Reeves’ deep, sometimes sage-like gruff voice. It’s not bad but it’s interesting to think that Reeves, whose had such a resurgence in the last few years as a leading man, seems slightly out of place whereas Winter, who’s moved towards directing and has mostly stepped away from acting since his early days, carries much of the film.
Fans of the franchise will certainly be happy to not only see returning characters such as William Sadler’s Grim Reaper and Lt. Logan, but there’s even a beautiful little tribute to the late great George Carlin’s Rufus thrown in there that’s sure to make plenty of folks smile. Around the third act is where the plot starts to get a little convoluted and much of the logic is either brushed over or thrown out the window completely. Bill and Ted’s mission is a real-time 77-minute race against the clock and figures into an only ninety minute film, at times making it feel like maybe there was more movie that was cut out. It’s made somewhat more head-scratching by the somewhat abrupt ending, which in all fairness is juxtaposed with a rather cute credits-montage as well as a most excellent post-credits scene.
Despite these qualms, I think it’s safe to say that a franchise that’s never been built on realism, logic, or any form of scientific fact shouldn’t be taken quite so seriously. For something that’s been around for thirty years, if it didn’t do so then why start now? Simply put: if you grew with the first two films, you’ll be most satisfied with this adventure. For a final outing, it may not exactly be excellent, but it’s anything but bogus.
B+
