Movie Review: Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

The movie stars Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler, George Carlin and Joss Ackland.

I am burning off the rest of my vacation time at work and, as part of that, had yesterday afternoon off. I had planned on getting some things done around the house but, as I sat down for a few minutes to have lunch, I discovered this movie on Netflix. As it turns out, I didn't get anything done as a result.

Even though Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a movie I enjoy every time I watch it, I actually like this sequel a little more. I think it's because, while Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves) had to succeed in order to pass their history class in the first one, the stakes in this movie (saving the world and the women they love) are so much larger.

One thing, in particular, I found I liked about this movie was the seemingly impossible situation they are put in. After all, not that long into the movie, they are dead. That, alone, seems like a pretty large obstacle to overcome. Yet, they manage to do just that (in some pretty funny ways) regardless.

Another thing I found I liked about this movie was the way it takes the time to show us the more of futuristic society created by their music. The first movie gave us a glimpse of this and a basic explanation. This film not only shows us more of it, we even learn of, through conversation, some of the subtle influences (such as the word "station") of their music/band.

Probably my only real complaint about this movie is we still don't get to know the two princesses (Annette Azcuy and Sarah Trigger) all that well. They are given a limited amount of lines and no real role other than a love interest/damsel in distress and, as a result of this, the movie really doesn't give them any real depth. Considering they, too, were members of Wyld Stallyns, it would have been good to see them have a role that was at least equal to the new members that were added throughout the course of the movie.

I don't normally like sequels. But, this is one of the few films I do make an exception for. If you haven't seen it, it's a movie I do recommend.

My Grade: A