Given the way 2020 has been going for new releases, I made a decision early on not to pay $20 or so to watch a new movie. That’s more than I would pay even if I didn’t have AMC Stubbs A-List or a similar such program. I live alone, and that is a noticeable amount of money for someone who lives alone to watch any movie once.
And yet, I made an exception for, of all things, a new Bill & Ted movie. Why? I can’t say I am a particularly huge fan of Bill S. Preston Esq or Ted “Theodore” Logan, the two dummies who formed the band Wyld Stallyns, the very band destined to create the philosophy that would make the world a peaceful utopia in the future. Well, truth be told, it was mostly curiosity. Say what you will about the Bill & Ted movies, but they are often so creative and weird, and truthfully, there isn’t much like them. So, here we are. At the least, it should be weird.
If continuity matters in the world of Bill and Ted, then fans may be a little dispirited to see their success, as seen in the closing credits montage for the previous movie, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, did not actually come to pass. Their one song did not lead to a great career, and since then, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) have struggled to write the song that will make the future perfect. And since it’s been thirty years, it doesn’t look too promising. They still have their wives the Princesses, and they have their likeminded daughters Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Thea (Samara Weaving). They also have each other and are apparently incapable of doing anything separately.
But then word comes back from the future as Rufus’s daughter Kelly (Kristen Schaal) arrives with grave news: all of reality is at risk. Time and space is getting a bit crazy as people from different times and places are materializing everywhere. Bill and Ted must finally write the great song that will unite all of reality. And, as it is, they have a deadline of just over an hour. If they fail, all of reality ends. But there are other problems, such as the possibility the Princesses might leave them, Billie and Thea decide to recruit their own band to play back-up to their fathers, and Kelly’s mother The Great Leader (Taylor Holland) has her own interpretation for the prophecy of how Bill and Ted save reality.
So, honestly, no one is going to mistake a Bill & Ted movie for high art. These movies are meant to be fun and silly while occasionally referencing the oddest things, like how William Sadler’s Grem Reaper (back for this movie) has a Swedish accent or how rapper Kid Cudi is an expert on quantum physics theory. These are silly movies, and while I wouldn’t call them my favorites, I did enjoy watching the movie. Reeves and Winter fell right back into character without any problems, and quite frankly, Keanu doesn’t have to make a movie like this if he doesn’t want to. The Thea and BIllie plot didn’t work quite so well as the two actresses were basically doing so-so impressions of Reeves and Winter, but I didn’t much care. The title duo had such enthusiasm for the movie, and it was all fans might have really wanted.
Was it a great movie? Not by a long shot. Was it fun? Yeah. Did I regret spending $20 on it? Not at all. And it ended in a way that said yes, this is the end of the road for this franchise. I’m fine with that. Be excellent to each other.
By the by, I will not be paying out $30 for the live action Mulan. Maybe if I had kids, but again, I live alone…
Grade: B- Excellent!
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