Bill & Ted Face The Music

Whoa, dudes. How have I not gotten to this movie yet? It came out, like, in August last year. But I'm now seeing it. Bogus, dudes.

Translation: It's true that I didn't check out Bill & Ted Face The Music a lot sooner. I finally saw it on free video-on-demand. Let's check it out, dudes.

The main dudes are Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves). They had their Excellent Adventure collecting historical dudes for their history project in 1989. They had a Bogus Journey through literally Hell and Back in 1991. They are the Wyld Stallyns, the rock band destined to unite the world with their music. But they're has-beens in 2020; they have yet to write the prophesized song. They have literally seventy-seven minutes to come up with the song or reality will wipe out.

Don't worry, they have a plan. They decide to time-hop in their old phone booth time machine to a point where they have the song. They'll get it then from their future selves. But they meet a few future selves who hate them for being losers. The Great Leader of 2720 (Holland Taylor) decides to save reality with a killer robot named Dennis (Anthony Carrigan). Meanwhile, their daughters, Thea Preston (Samara Weaving) and Billie Logan (Brigette Lundy-Paine), decide to collect some historical music dudes to help their dads. How will they face the music?

Yes, the story is incredibly daffy with its time-travel shenanigans. But it's still an entertaining adventure crafted by series creators Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. The dudes are still a likable pair of idiots in their middle-age. They not only have to save reality but save their marriages from themselves. Both plots make the resulting 91 minutes a compelling watch. Billie and Thea's subplot gives them their own excellent adventure like their dads. They collect figures like Mozart, Jimi Hendrix and Louis Armstrong in their own fun ways.

Billie and Thea are a great set of new characters. They're as likable as their dads and their chemistry is strong. Kelly (Kristen Schaal), the daughter and replacement of Bill & Ted's original time guide, Rufus (George Carlin), is a fun character too. Dennis is a nice surprise when he turns out to be an insecure android rather than a cold machine. Another surprise is rapper Kid Cudi, as himself, who is quite adept in the time travel logic. A few good returning characters include The Grim Reaper (William Sadler) and Captain Logan (Hal Landon), both of whom have issues with the Wyld Stallyns. They resolve them in a nice fashion. 

Now for the technicals. It's equally hysterical and awesome to see the Wyld Stallyns interact with themselves. The present and future pairs are brought together with seamless editing and reverse angles. A great makeup team ages the future selves quite significantly. It's really something to see them as muscle-bound prisoners who are still airheads. Dennis's design is another impressive makeup feat (why it wasn't Oscar shortlisted I'll never know). There's some good time travel effects and an impressive CGI future city. There's also some good music by Mark Isham and some great purposefully-awful pieces by the Stallyns. The pivotal song was cool.

Bill & Ted Face The Music is a most excellent continuation of a dormant franchise. The main characters are as likable now as they are then. The new characters are welcome additions. Don't think too much about the silly time travel logic and you'll have fun. It'll make a delightfully goofy watch on your medium of choice. What can I say but press play and party on, dudes.