Written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon (creators of the original characters)
Directed by Dean Parisot
Starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine and Kristen Schaal
Running time: 1 hour and 31 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 for language and non-scary images of Hell

by Audrey Callerstrom

When my husband purchased Bill & Ted Face the Music to watch in our basement, I did not intend to review it. I left my notebook and pen upstairs. I didn’t want to take notes on pacing, editing, performances, music, sound, camerawork. I just wanted to sit, watch and enjoy. And I did.

The end.

Just kidding.

Sure, you could pick apart Bill & Ted Face the Music. But why would you want to? What do you gain? It’s not there for you to critique. It wants you to laugh and feel happy and forget about whatever stress is troubling you at the moment. What should I do with my career? Am I saving enough money? Will I be OK? Do people like me? Like, really? Shh. Shh. Just shh.

Bill & Ted Face the Music opens with best buds and bandmates Bill (Alex Winter) & Ted (Keanu Reeves) performing at a wedding.  Their band, Wyld Stallyns, had its moment in the spotlight, but it fizzled, and now the pair are in their 50s. If that makes you feel old, and you feel like you just saw Keanu in The Matrix, well, that’s how time works. In spite of their loving wives (Jayma Mays and Erinn Hayes) and totally adorable daughters (Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine), Bill & Ted still haven’t fulfilled their lives’ purpose: writing the song that will save the world/mankind/time/space. In fact, the longer they don’t write it, the more that time starts to fold in on itself (George Washington pops up on a therapist’s couch, for example). The Great Leader (Holland Taylor) tells them they must create the song by 7:17pm at a mysterious location called “MP 46” or the whole time/space continuum is going to become warped. So our lovable dudes zip into the future to find the song.

The whole cast has a joyful energy. It’s contagious. I pictured the actors laughing with each other onset in between takes instead of retreating to their trailers with their phones. Is Samara Weaving too old to be the daughter of Jayma Mays? Probably, but also, it’s a movie, doooood! Weaving plays Bill’s daughter, Thea, and Lundy-Paine plays Ted’s daughter, Billie. Yeah, Bill & Ted named their kids after each other, not themselves – that’s love. Weaving as Thea has adapted a dorky persona and she’s not afraid to flare her nostrils or bug out her eyes. She has fun with the role. Lundy-Paine as Ted’s daughter Billie does a terrific job of capturing Ted’s slack-jawed “I’m listening” face and frenetic head nod. Thea & Billie team up to help their dads out, zipping through history to find the greatest musicians of all time to help their dads write the song that will save humanity. 

Bill & Ted’s wives are also time travelling, and the movie doesn’t show what they’re up to, or give them more than a line or two, but that’s fine. The film belongs to Bill & Ted and Bill & Ted: the Next Generation, although supporting players are game as well. Character actor Anthony Carrigan plays a time travelling terminator who is actually pretty awkward and his name is… Dennis. Kristen Schaal is just kind of, well, there, playing the daughter of Rufus (George Carlin) from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Initially, the appearance of Kid Cudi seems like a standard cameo so the actors can stare agog and say “KID CUDI?!” (in case you didn’t know who he was) but writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon (of the original films) have fun with it. Kid Cudi knows a lot about the science of time travel but can only explain it using scientific jargon. Director Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) has a good grasp on the pacing and the humor. You will rarely see a reboot that lives up to the spirit of the originals more than this one.

The ending jumps out at you and gives you a warm, tight hug. You’re going to be OK! We’re going to be OK. I’d like to time travel to the future and reserve my tickets for the next movie in this expanded universe. Billie & Thea Fight The Martians? I’ll workshop it. 

Available to watch now on demand.