DUDES! Welcome to Rhode Island Movie Corner, where today,
we’re celebrating the most excellent of franchises. It is the franchise that has
given us one of the most iconic and awesome duos in the history of film who are
making the most triumphant return in cinematic history with their long-awaited
third feature film. I’m, of course, referring to the most legendary heroes of
time, Bill S. Preston (Esquire!) and Ted “Theodore” Logan, and together,
they’re… WYLD STALLYNS! (*Air Guitars*) Hehe, okay, I’m not going to talk like
that for the entire post, but yes, ladies and gentlemen, today we’re finally
tackling a franchise that I’ve been dying to cover for the past few years now.
I’m, of course, referring to the adventures of the dynamic duo known as Bill
& Ted. The original Bill & Ted film is one of the prime
examples of a bona fide cult classic that slowly but surely evolved into one of
the most iconic and highly quotable films of its time. It would go on to spawn
a sequel in 1991, two short-lived TV series (one animated and one live-action),
and other various media spin-offs such as a long-running stage show at
Universal Studios, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure, that
occurred during the park’s annual Halloween Horror Nights event until 2013 in
Hollywood and 2017 in Florida. But now, after nearly three whole decades, the
Wyld Stallyns have made their grand return to the big-screen in Bill &
Ted Face the Music. As fans of the franchise are well-aware, this film has
been in the works for quite some time, but after several years stuck in
development hell, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are finally back in the roles
that very much launched their careers. And so, in honor of this most excellent release,
today we’re delving into the history (pun TOTALLY intended!) of these perpetually
enduring fan favorites. So, with that said, grab your phone booth time machines
and prepare for the possibility that you’ll have to give Death himself a Melvin
as we look at the first two films in the Bill & Ted franchise. EXCELLENT!!
(*Air Guitars*)
BILL & TED’S
EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (1989)
As I just alluded to in the intro, 1989’s Bill &
Ted’s Excellent Adventure is one of the most noteworthy success stories of
the 80’s. Written by two then-newcomers to the film industry (Ed Solomon and
Chris Matheson, the latter being the son of legendary sci-fi writer Richard
Matheson), this sci-fi adventure about two rock-loving slackers who are granted
a phone booth time machine to help them ace their history report was notably
shelved for about a year after it was filmed. This was mainly due to its
original distributor, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, filing for bankruptcy
in 1988. Thankfully, though, the film managed to gain a new distributor in
Orion Pictures and was finally released in 1989 to become the cult classic that
it still is today. It’s a film that fully embraces its goofy premise (in which
the titular duo learn that their music is the key to a future in which society has
evolved into a perfect utopia) and blatantly farcical takes on history to be a
delightfully wacky comedy that’s chock-full of iconic lines. Whether it’s one
of Bill and Ted’s classmates proudly proclaiming that “SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL
FOOTBALL RULES!” or Bill and Ted being told by their future selves that the
number that they’re currently thinking of is “69, dudes!!!”, this is easily one
of the most quotable films of all-time. And, of course, much of this is thanks to
the film’s most excellent titular duo (*Air Guitars*). Not only do Alex Winter
and Keanu Reeves have phenomenal camaraderie, but they fully succeed in making Bill
and Ted a thoroughly likable duo (barring one incredibly dated homophobic slur
that they proclaim after hugging each other). Another key player in this film’s
enduring legacy is the late George Carlin as Bill and Ted’s friendly ally from
the future, Rufus. Admittedly, Rufus doesn’t factor into the film as much as newcomers
to the franchise may think, but it goes without saying that Carlin steals the
show in every scene that he’s in as the awesomely chill dude who gets Bill and
Ted started on their journey. In short, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
is a highly entertaining and all-around easygoing comedic romp that doesn’t
take itself too seriously (especially given that it’s based around the always
complicated premise of time-travel), thus resulting in a film that truly is… EXCELLENT!
(*Air Guitars*)
Rating: 4.5/5
BILL & TED’S
BOGUS JOURNEY (1991)
Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson managed to shake things up
quite a bit when it came to the first sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.
Instead of doing another time-travel plot, Bogus Journey is more like a surreal
road trip adventure as it sees the titular duo having to deal with a radical zealot
from the future named De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) who seeks to bring an end to
the utopian society that they will bring about. To do so, De Nomolos creates evil
robot versions of Bill and Ted who successfully kill them, resulting in them getting
into all sorts of hi-jinx from traveling to both heaven and hell (the original
title for the film was, in fact, Bill & Ted Go to Hell), and
challenging Death himself to everything from Battleship to Twister. Suffice it
to say, Bogus Journey is full of crazy moments, and I can see why this might
have thrown some people off when this film first came out because of how
radically different it is when compared to its predecessor. And yet… that’s
what makes Bogus Journey just as much of a classic as Excellent
Adventure. Like its predecessor, Bogus Journey fully commits to the utterly
absurd nature of its plot, and whereas Excellent Adventure was more of
an ensemble piece headlined by both Bill and Ted and the various ‘historical
dudes’ that they meet, Bogus Journey lets the Wyld Stallyns (*Air Guitars*)
be the true stars of the show this time around. Obviously, Keanu Reeves and
Alex Winter are phenomenal once again as Bill and Ted, but this film also gives
them a great new co-star in the Grim Reaper himself, Death, excellently played
by William Sadler. Sadler is a natural addition to the franchise as a Grim
Reaper who, despite his status as the personification of death, ends up being one
of the biggest punching bags in cinematic history given all the hilarious things
that he’s subjected to (e.g. Bill and Ted giving him a Melvin). Because of all
this, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is very much a worthy sequel to Excellent
Adventure that made the wise decision to not just be a straight-forward
redo of its predecessor like some sequels admittedly tend to do.
Rating: 4.5/5
And that concludes this
retrospective on a franchise that is most triumphant! (*Air Guitars*) Thanks for
following along and be sure to be on the lookout for a review of Bill &
Ted Face the Music sometime soon. Until then, to quote the Great Ones themselves,
“Be Excellent to Each Other!”, and…
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