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Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Movie Review: Bill & Ted Face the Music

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Silly comedy with a decent story
Cons: A bit too dumb at times, but it mostly works
The Bottom Line:
Searching for the song
Time travel and silly fun
Light entertainment




“Maybe We Should Always Not Know What We’re Doing.”

Since I watched the first two Bill and Ted movies, which mixed feelings, a few years back, I was curious to see what would happen to the duo in Bill and Ted Face the Music.  I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting much from the movie, and maybe that’s why I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The movie is set in the present day, which means that Bill and Ted (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) are now middle age dads still trying to fulfill their destiny of writing a song that will unite the universe.  Their quest became even harder after their band, Wyld Stallyns, broke up.

Just as Ted is talking about giving up music, the duo are pulled into the future and told their deadline to fulfill their destiny is that day.  While they jump into their futures, trying to get the song from their future selves, their daughters, Billie and Thea (Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving) travel back in time hoping to get some of the best musicians of all time to join the band to play this all important song.  Will it be enough?

If you are looking for a deep, serious movie…you clearly haven’t seen the first two movies.  If you’ve seen them, you pretty much know what to expect here.  Bill and Ted are the same loveable clueless characters they’ve always been, and their daughters aren’t any better.  A storyline involving their wives proves who the smartest people are in their families.

While the characters are dumb, this isn’t a dumb comedy.  Oh, some of the lines and jokes are dumb, but the comedy is smarter than it would appear at first blush.  That’s probably why I enjoyed it.

And I did.  I was grinning and laughing at some of the lines and antics.  Okay, so some of it was a bit too dumb for me.  But it was having fun.  And it wasn’t taking itself that seriously.  It set out to be a light, entertaining comedy, and that’s exactly what it was.

It’s been long enough since I watched the first two that I can’t really compare them.  I do remember enjoying the first but hating the second.  For me, this falls in between, but closer to the first.  It’s a smart, mindless comedy.

The story holds together pretty well, too.  Oh, there’s plenty of time travel involved in all directions, which means the plot falls apart if you stop and think about it, so don’t stop and think about it.  Just sit back and enjoy.

And maybe that’s why I enjoyed it as much as I did.  I was in the mood to be entertained and just unwind, and the movie was perfect for that.

The actors are all fantastic.  Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves slip back into Bill and Ted perfectly.  The rest of the cast is wonderful whether they are wacky characters or the serious characters who are trying to keep things grounded.

Bill and Ted Face the Music works because it wants to do nothing but entertain.  It’s a pleasant, relaxing hour and a half that will leave you smiling.

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