CERT: PG | RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 16TH
It’s been three decades since the Wyld Stallions last rocked, and while Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey remain cult favourites, it seems odd to bring them back now – are they not, to put it kindly, past their best?
But Face the Music is well aware of this; we rejoin Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter’s duo in their 50s, with their band split up, marriages failing, and enthusiasm dwindling. Worse, they’ve never written the song prophesised to unite the world, and it’s looking unlikely they ever will. What they need is a deadline, and when reality starts to collapse, they’re given one – 75 minutes.
Rather than writing, Bill and Ted set off to steal the song from their future selves, prompting both zany antics and poignant reflection on a life not gone to plan. Have no fear; screenwriters Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, who penned the first two films, know what they’re doing with these characters.
But this isn’t just a nostalgia fix, thanks to Billie and Thea – Bill and Ted’s daughters, played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving. Their boundless enthusiasm out-Bill-and-Teds the actual Bill and Ted, as they travel through time putting a band together for the imminent performance (and what a band!). If anything’s amiss, it’s that Lundy-Paine and Weaving don’t get equal billing with Reeves and Winter; they certainly earn it.
Bill and Ted Face the Music shows how its done – a delight for fans and newbies alike. It’s also the perfect catharsis for audiences nervous about returning to cinemas, full of music and comedy and hope. Bill and Ted are back. Cinema is back. Excellent.
