Not only are the fictional Bill and Ted middle-aged and a bit worn around the edges, nobody can stop time, but so are Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. The chemistry is clearly still there but even before I saw the film I felt the nostalgist might at best be a sad reminder of your mortality and at worst a set of old men paying their outstanding tax bills and trying to recapture a moment in time that simply cannot be recaptured because….well, time.
I would say in all modesty I was partially correct and partially wrong. There is an element of wallowing about the morasses of the past but there is a genuine attempt to update the story, such as it is, and engage new viewers or fans. I would say that on the scale of succeeding or failing in this endeavour the writers Matheson and Solomon have just dropped below the ‘failed’ line. Not so much as you do not want to watch the film or walk out on it but definitely to the degree where no youngsters will be talking about this and anticipating a sequel when Winter and Reeves and genuinely in a care home.
Part of the problem is just too much time has passed from the last film and seeing men in the fifties behaving like basically idiots is not as funny as the first two times – plus behaving like an idiot was a bit fun in your teens and twenties, I’m the same age as them, I still behave like an idiot but not the same way. Someone cleverer than me could have evolved this in an interesting and new way but instead they just made the same film with everyone older or replaced.
The young Bill and Ted are surrogated by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving as ‘Billie and Thea’ but they really are just Bill and Ted, but in young female form and I cannot help feeling that a good twist or change to the story was missed here. I also cannot help feeling that one door left open is for the actors to go on when our main stars become too old for these types of high-jinx.
With George Carlin now being gone from the realm Kristin Schaal pops up as his daughter and George gets a hologram. Schaal’s quirky presence is always welcome in a film or show so it comes as no surprise that she was not used enough. Instead we get Bill and Ted traipsing through time and history picking up famous musicians and meeting a-hole versions of themselves. At time it is funny, other times it raises an eyebrow more than a smile.
In the end the film is silly and daft, so I am not looking for logic or some serious message, it is just be excellent to each other and let music save the world. Also, Death is a cool dude but I could not help thinking a better story was in there somewhere, more fun, indeed funnier all round.
The acting is good for what it is, let us be honest no one is stretching their acting chops here, and anyway William Sadler wipes the floor with them, even if Death looks errr….older.
Overall for all the hype about this film, I was disappointed, I did laugh and enjoyed some points and the care home scenes had some emotional heft for me due to the recent death of my father but I cannot tell anyone to seek out this film and I probably will never watch it again.
I feel this is a great shame. I liked Bill and Ted, but I was younger and like them, I am not any longer.
Review by Paladin5150BlockedParent2020-11-23T23:43:42Z— updated 2021-01-11T01:52:39Z
For those of us who remember the originals, we can breath a sigh of relief because the basic heart and soul of those still beats in the third outing of this trilogy. Yes Keanu, sans the John Wick beard, is just starting to show his age, and at times is just mimicking what the fans expect of this character, but, thankfully, he isn't phoning it in just yet. Amazingly, Alex Winter seems even more enthused than his arguably more successful (at least of late) partner in time, and seems to be having a blast just chilling with the old gang. William Sadler is as hysterical as ever, playing Death, who has been exiled from the band and injunctioned from even using the name, because of his 40 minute experimental bass solos, and, the make-up scene between him and the two front men is worth the time it takes to finally get there.
There had to be a hook, besides a mindless rehash of the previous two movies, and "Thea" Preston, and "Billie" Logan playing the oppositely named, female progeny of our intrepid hero's, provide that hook, as being raised by fathers tasked with, but never finishing, the EPIC song that would unite the world, have, in spite of outward appearances, somehow "rain manned" a Wikipedic knowledge and insight of all things melodic and musical. This comes in quite handy once their part of the story begins.
It is rumored that Samara Weaving holds no grudge toward Keanu Reeves for repeatedly killing her father, (Hugo Weaving) Agent Smith, in that OTHER Trilogy he made, nor at any time did she smirkingly call him..... MISTER ANDERSON,,,,,,
The ensuing RE-mash of the first two movies follows, with the daughters essentially retracing the journey of the first Bill and Ted movie, with the appropriate musical theme of course, while, the Dads jump time meeting future versions of themselves in the hopes of stealing "the SONG", from themselves, but discovering instead that perhaps living their mission focused lives, and repeatedly failing, caused them to miss out on all the great things in the one they were actually living. Also, they are now pursued by Rufus' daughters ex-boyfriend turned assassin robot, "Dennis Caleb McCoy'", sent by her Mother, Missus Rufus, and played with neurotic aplomb by Anthony Carrigan, in an inspired turn.
Fortunately, in the end, they do indeed get the band back together, and, as we are still here, (for now) the rest I guess, is history.
The best part of which will be said is they DIDN'T screw this one up!!