Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure was released in 1989. (same year Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade came out) It earned positive reviews from critics and movie goers alike. Plus it made enough money at the box office. Over the years, Bill And Ted became cult classics.
Two Years Later, a sequel titled, “Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey” was released. After many years of requests from fans to make a third movie. Keanu & Alex finally signed on to make an overdue sequel known titled, “Bill And Ted Face The Music slated for to come out on demand this September. At first, it was supposed to come out in theaters, unfortunately, the ongoing Coronavirus forced the film crew to transfer it on digital release.
Besides the long awaited sequel, Keanu Reeves will reprise his roles as John Wick in a fourth film scheduled for release in 2022 & last but not least, reprising his role as Neo in a fourth film in “The Matrix” series. By the way, he has a role in the upcoming video game, “Cyberpunk 2077” scheduled to come out on November 19.
This review doesn’t contain any SPOILERS whatsoever. I’ll give a few guys and gals a chance to view this movie.
Excellent & Bummer Qualities
Excellent: Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter both did an excellent job for their respective performances as Ted Logan & Bill Preston Esq. Their surfer accents reminded me of Sean Penn’s role as Jeff Spicoli from “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” & Michelangelo from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
The late George Carlin did a great job for his performance as Rufus. He helps the duo by giving them instructions to operate a phone booth to transport them to any designated year.
Screenwriters Ed Solomon (Men In Black) & Chris Matheson (A Goofy Movie) both did an amazing job polishing the script.
Fun Fact: During a virtual Comic Con 2020 Panel for Bill And Ted Face The Music, Ed Solomon & Chris Matheson came up with the idea of playing the titular duo as part of their stand-up routine. Before they were screenwriters, they were part of an improv comedy. They discovered Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter outside a line at McDonalds.
Speaking of Comic Con 2020, Kevin Smith mentioned Bill & Ted as an inspiration for the stoner duo, Jay & Silent Bob.
Stephen Herek ( The Mighty Ducks) did a decent job directing.
I’m gonna come clean, when I was a kid I’ve never heard of Bill & Ted until my parents bought me two DVD copies of the first and second movies. I was first introduced to Keanu when he starred in “The Matrix Trilogy.” Back in high school, I had a history teacher showing us the movie to help classmates and I flesh out context behind historical figures.
Cinematography never had any problems throughout.
Chemistry between the titular duo served as the main highlight. You want the lovable dummies to pass their report thanks to their goofy personalities.
The Humor made me laugh my butt off. Gotta love visual humor, memorable dialogue and fish out of water moments when it comes to historical figures going to 1988. Their catchphrases are “Excellent” & “Bogus.” They also have a habit of playing air guitar.
My favorite part of the whole movie is when the historical figures wreck havoc in a mall. I have no choice but to give this scene Bonus Points for making me laugh so hard I nearly passed out the first time I saw it.
When I was a kid, I never understood any jokes that went over my head. Now that I’m older, I get them now.
Present Day for the movie is set in 1988. The year “Die Hard” came out. Also a year before Bill & Ted’s release date.
If you’ve already seen the movie, you’re fully aware why Bill & Ted have to go back in time to different eras in order to pass their history class.
Bummer: I’ll be honest with you fellas. I couldn’t find no con in front of my own eyes. I’m giving this movie an Extra Point without having any flaws.
Special Effects don’t hold up so well. It was The 80’s. I’m giving this con a pass, because Computer Animation wasn’t advanced back then.
If you’re gay or a closeted individual, there’s a gay joke that might make you feel uncomfortable. Could be worse if Sean Schemmel (voice of Goku) actually greets his fans calling them “The Other F-Word.” I’m not kidding, there’s Funimation audio leaks of Sean in character.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is arguably one of the best time traveling movies of all time. The positive things I’ve listed as “Excellent,” indicates that this classic still holds up. If you want to introduce your kids to the first two movies before the third one comes out, I strongly recommend them back-to-back.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 