‘Bill & Ted Face the Music” finds itself somewhere between an excellent adventure and a bogus journey

by Gordon Shelly

Man, are people mean to one another. Mean, mean, mean, mean, mean.  The 2020 election cycle has shown us that people can be the worst human beings.  Bill & Ted Face the Music comes at just the right time, when we need a break from pandemic stay-at-home orders, election intensity and news that seems to be worse by the day.  The message of Bill & Ted Face the Music is a simple one, be excellent to each other… and party on, dudes.

Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves return as Bill and Ted, respectively. This time, there daughters are in tow, and they are still striving to write the song that will unite the world and bring universal peace.  But they are struggling to achieve this goal and nothing is going right, hence the need for another, wild, time-travel adventure.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure had an awkward innocence that works every step of the way in a layered and playfully comic movie.  Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey has some great moments, fantastic characters, but ultimately doesn’t have the same flow or appeal as the original.

This final effort in the trilogy falls somewhere in the middle, finding itself leaning more toward a Bogus Journey rather than an Excellent Adventure.  It is fun to see Reeves go back to the role that made him a star and really launched his career. And the movie is lighthearted comedic entertainment right when the world needs it most.

Check your brain at the door, kick back, have fun for 90 minutes, and, remember, be excellent to each other. Words to live by.

Gordon’s Grade: B-