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Acting
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Directing
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Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Samara Weaving
Director: Dean Parisot
Running Time: 91 mins
Bill & Ted Face The Music is an American film and the third film in the Bill & Ted series. After hearing that the future of the entire world and reality itself is in danger, Bill & Ted must write the song that unites the entire world, and reality itself.
It’s always strange to see sequels come so long after their predecessors, and Bill & Ted Face The Music – nearly three decades after the last film in the series – is in a completely new world. That said, it’s a genuinely delightful film that really pays homage to its two predecessors, while telling a new and enjoyable story with the same energy that made the previous films so much fun.
For the most part, you can watch Bill & Ted Face The Music like a direct sequel that was released just years after the last movie. But there are still a few differences between this film and those two originals.
For one, this movie doesn’t quite have the innocent, totally goofy charm of the first two. With a bigger budget, a more mature cast and better special effects, it does feel a little more sanitised, and misses out on the purely silly energy of the original movies.
That said, however, Bill & Ted Face The Music is probably the best-written movie in the series. Not only in terms of consistent, laugh-out-loud comedy, but thanks to a screenplay that plays with time travel, history and the legacy of the franchise itself in really clever ways, this is a really engaging and enjoyable watch from start to finish.
If you’re looking for more of the same silliness from the original Bill & Ted movies, then there’s a lot to love about this movie. It’s different in some ways, but it leans heavily on the memories of those original movies, paying service to your nostalgia and the impressive universe the previous built in thoroughly entertaining fashion.
Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are as lovable as ever on screen together, and though it may seem a little strange at first to see two middle-aged men trying to recapture the energy of two baby-faced teens from the late 1980s, Reeves and Winter use their chemistry and maturity to make the pair immensely enjoyable once again, but still having moved on in the last thirty years.
Meanwhile, Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine star as the excellent duo’s daughters, and although they at first seem to do little more than attempt to replay the same dynamic between the young Bill & Ted, the pair actually prove the movie’s brightest spark, with their side of the time-travelling story arguably even better than Reeves and Winter’s adventures.
In short, there’s a lot to love about Bill & Ted Face The Music, and although it may seem worlds away from the original movies in some ways, it’s still an immensely enjoyable watch that recaptures the energy and fun factor of those two films. With a clever screenplay, great humour and strong performances, it’s a funny and engaging watch from start to finish, so that’s why I’m giving it a 7.6 overall.
