Film Review: Bill & Ted Face The Music

The highly anticipated Bill & Ted Face The Music is a thoroughly likable and charming movie, and that’s kind of all there is to it. That’s not to say there isn’t any value in simply offering an enjoyable experience for its audience, but it is strange considering how much hype and anticipation has built up for a belated sequel to the Bill & Ted movies. Though, one could simply attribute that to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic, among other equally stressful factors, has made 2020 so ridiculously insufferable that anything remotely pure and positive is welcomed with open and very, very desperate arms.

The sequel, which is written by original screenwriters Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon and directed by Dean Parisot, sees the not so triumphant return of the titular Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves), who have yet to create the song that would supposedly unite the world. Now the time-space continuum is going haywire, and time is running out, literally. So, in an effort to fulfill their destiny once and for all, they go on a time travel adventure to the future to take the song from their future selves while their daughters, Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Thea (Samara Weaving), go on their own adventure through time to find musicians to hopefully help their fathers make the song.

Belated sequels can often be a crapshoot, and that goes double for belated comedy sequels. Comedy sequels as is are hard to pull off because many times it results in a basic repeat of the original film. Needless to say, as much as we may have been excited for a new Bill & Ted, with the fact that it’s taken so long to get this off the ground, there was no guarantee that the film would be able to recapture what made the original leave such a lasting impression.

Thankfully, it actually does just that. The film certainly uses the time passed to its advantage, bringing back everything that made the original so fun while also bringing a new dynamic with the actors now being older, and the emotional weight they bring in, especially in regards to the relationship with their daughters. Winters and Reeves are as terrific as you’d expect, slipping back to their characters with ease, while building on them in ways that makes them just as endearing and delightful as they were as opposed to being sad and pathetic.

The rest of the cast fares well too. Lundy-Paine and Weaving are a joy to watch mimicking the mannerisms of their dads. Other folks like Kristen Schaal, Holland Taylor, Jillian Bell, Kid Cudi, and the returning players like William Sadler, Amy Stoch, and Hal Landon Jr. do very well in the few moments that we see them in. I especially enjoyed Anthony Carrigan, who plays a robot that is initially set up like a Terminator, but is soon to be incredibly insecure, and also his name is Dennis Caleb McCoy. The only ones that don’t get much material are Jayma Mays and Erinn Hayes, playing play the princesses, who ended up marrying Bill and Ted. They both put on British accents, but rarely get jokes to perform, often reacting to the antics around them, which is disappointing since I’ve seen them do funny stuff before it only highlights the somewhat off-putting age gap.

I feel like the film doesn’t offer much to folks who aren’t already fully on board. If you go into this completely blind, as strange a move as that might be, there is enough here to invest as its own story, but it’s all meaningless without the context, without seeing the original films, without knowing the struggle of getting this sequel made. It is one of those movies that feels like everything about was made with the fans in mind, sometimes that can lead to pandering, but other times, at least, with the case of this, I think it makes for a nice ride.

As someone who has grown up watching the original Bill & Ted movies, I am happy to say I had a really fun time with Bill & Ted Face The Music. I loved hanging out with these characters again, I love that despite everything, they’re friendship and sense of kindness has endured. Even though, so much time has passed since the previous films, the sensibilities have remained, and that’s pretty rare with these kinds of belated sequels. The passion put on screen is clear from frame one, and its nostalgic indulgences feel totally justified and earned. It’s fast, funny, earnest, incredibly sweet, and it ties a nice bow to the franchise that I’m sure will satisfy fans and perhaps even win over some young newcomers.

 

Bill & Ted Face The Music is now available in select theaters and VOD platforms.