Thomas Wolfe once stated you can’t go home again. Bill and Ted, 29 years after we last saw the dopey duo on the big screen, prove that statement wrong…..but perhaps the question everyone should’ve asked was SHOULD you go home again?
Fans of the Bill & Ted franchise will undoubtedly say yes, while the critical eye will……well, c’mon now, does that really matter here?
‘Bill & Ted Face The Music’ is FOR the fans, there’s no doubt about it. At times excellent, other moments admittedly bogus, this is a sloppy, silly, yet irresistible blast from the past from a pair of lovable slackers thought to be lost in the circuits of time (and in a way, they kinda HAVE been) that, in all honestly, defies critical assessment. It’s not a great movie – but it’s Bill & Ted, so no one cares. And if you think that statement makes little sense, this film wasn’t made for you anyway.
The story begins in San Dimas, California, 2020. Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) had minimal success as Wyld Stallyns, the band that was supposed to bring the world together with their music. In fact, they’ve plunged to a level of playing weddings…with bagpipes, no less. They DID marry the princesses, Elizabeth (Erinn Hayes) and Joanna (Jayma Mays), and each had a daughter….Thea (Samara Weaving) and Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine).
Shades of the original film, Kelly (Kristin Schaal), a visitor from the future arrives to guide the guys to the year 2720. Kelly, it is revealed, is the daughter of Rufus (the late George Carlin, in a sweet holographic cameo). Her mom (Holland Taylor) is the ‘Great Leader’ who informs Bill and Ted that, unless they come up with the song they were supposed to create….y’know, the tune that will harmonize the planet and all its humanity…it’s curtains for earth. Oh, and they have 77 minutes and 25 seconds to do so.
Bill and Ted’s plan, par for the course with their limited capacity for critical thinking, is to go back in time and steal the song from themselves. Their daughters, however, come up with a bit more of an ambitious blueprint; travel waaaaay back in time, recruit legendary musicians like Mozart, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong and Ling Lun, and convince them to join Wyld Stallyns to help with the composition of the song. While it makes for a plot that probably has more moving parts than necessary (what’s with the killer robot? Oh, and William Sadler’s Grim Reaper is back!), both journeys provide a nice throwback to not only ‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’, but its sequel, the underrated ‘Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey’. And ain’t nostalgia what this project is all about?
It’s good to see Keanu Reeves, who has carved out his niche in dark fare like ‘John Wick’ and ‘The Matrix’, ease off the gas and have some carefree fun for a change, e.g. no body count. Yeah, he looks a wee uncomfortable climbing back into this role, at least at first. I think seeing ‘Bill & Ted’ run around and play air guitar is a wee bit uncomfortable for ALL of us….until we relax, embrace the stupidity, and just enjoy.
