Bill And Ted Face the Music

[Anderton]

So...I thought Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was a fun movie. And the concept of "be excellent to each other" has stuck with me.

 

But when I heard there was going to be a sequel, 29 years later (!), my first thought was "no way." Then again...Alex Winter (Bill) just did an acclaimed documentary on Frank Zappa and as Keanu Reeves (Ted) said, "Music has been part of the celebration of the best and helped me get through the worst." Alex Winter has been quoted as saying "Music is really good for breaking down barriers and transcending barriers...Music has always been a way of bringing me together with other people or other ideas or other worlds. I love that aspect of it, it crosses all borders."

 

These are the people behind the movie, and it becomes really obvious at the very, very end. You can see that the silly goofball stuff was all an excuse to hit people hard with the idea that music is important. The movie itself might not make sense if you didn't see the first one, but...the ending message was something that I hope the world hears right now, goofball comedy or not. One of the reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes summed it up well:

 

"As far as years later sequels go, this is one of the few that actually works. Bill & Ted still feel like Bill & Ted, and this still feels like their universe. Having just binged through the John Wick movies and recently started The Matrix films again, it's pretty interesting to see Keanu seamlessly move back into a character he hasn't played in years. They're definitely older, but they are still the characters we knew back in the day. It also retains the relentless creativity the series has established. There is a fair amount of recycled material, be it time travel or a visit to hell, but seeing new versions of Bill & Ted in visits to the future is a creative idea and the daughters add a fresh spin as well; not to mention a morally conflicted robot. It also maintains the fun positivity of the series. The final sequence in particular where (spoilers I guess?) they literally save the universe through the power of music, is just pure joy to watch. It's not perfect, not by a longshot, but it's way better than it has any right to be, and it's so damn likable that in a clusturf*** year it's kind of what I needed."

 

He nailed it. I definitely had an enjoyable stay-at-home movie evening. But for me, what was really stunning was the movie's raison e'etre: Music is vitally important.

 

I agree

[Joe Muscara]

I haven't seen it, but now I'll add it to the list.

[Anderton]

I had low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. Seems most of the reviews are "Y'know, I actually like this, even though I'm not quite sure why." I'm not sure what someone would think if they hadn't seen the first one, though. It is, after all, a sequel.

[MAJUSCULE]

I haven't seen it yet, but just a note that this is actually the third movie in the franchise. The original sequel was Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, from 1991. I've seen it, but it's been too long and I was too young. I own Excellent Adventure on DVD and therefore know it much better.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed Face the Music, I had heard some iffy reviews. I think some people go into sequels wanting to dislike it.

[Anderton]

Correct, it's #3, but the setup was in the first one...so I think people who haven't seen any of them only really need to see the first one to understand the "Bill & Ted Universe."