We re-join Bill S. Preston (played by Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (played by Keanu Reeves) still trying to get their band Wyld Stallyns off the ground. They are disrupted when they meet their evil robot counterparts (played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves), who they mistake for themselves from the future. The evil robot Bill and Ted were sent into the past by the most heinous De Nomolos (played by Joss Acklund), who is scheming to assassinate Bill and Ted in the past to reform the future as he'd like it to be. The evil robots succeed in killing Bill and Ted, who find themselves in the depths of hell. With no other option, Bill and Ted have to figure out a way out of hell, face off with the Grim Reaper (played by William Sadler), and find a way back to life so they can stop their evil robot selves from destroying their lives and, oh, also win Battle of the Bands so they can finally get their band going.
The film was directed by Pete Hewitt from a script by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. Soloman and Matheson went wild with throwing every crazy idea they had on the page and amazingly it works. Have Bill and Ted face off with the Grim Reaper from Bergman's The Seventh Seal in a series of board games in an attempt to regain their lives, as death loses one game after another, be it Battleship, Clue, Electric Football, or Twister? Sure, why not? Evil robot Bill and Ted causing havoc all over San Dimas? Of course, why wouldn't that be in the movie? Bill and Ted venturing into their own personal versions of hell that look like Dr. Suess' nightmares? That's gotta be in here! This movie is a bit more scattershot than the original film, but it also feels a bit more unique. Pete Hewitt directs the action well, giving the film it's own unique visual flair, especially as the action moves through Heaven, Hell, the Future, and everywhere in between. For a film that has such dark themes, they really give it a light touch so it never quite stops being fun, even as Bill and Ted are fighting their way out of Hell.
Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves reprise their roles as the titular heroes well, more or less picking up right where they left off in the first film. There is such a good-natured quality to these two characters that make them hard not to love, in spite of their more air head tendencies. It's clear that both Winter and Reeves are having a lot of fun playing the characters too. There is something amusing about them encountering all these crazy things with an almost affable indifference, such as them meeting the Grim Reaper and Ted responding by saying, "How's it hanging, Death?" Then on the other hand, Reeves and Winter are clearly having a ball playing the robot counterparts of Bill and Ted, who are every bit the lunkheads but only evil too. But the person who absolutely steals the show is William Sadler as the Grim Reaper. Whether it's his growing frustration at being bested at a series of board games by Bill and Ted or trying rather badly to sneak into Heaven with Bill and Ted, or even remarking to a smoker, "See you real soon" as he walks by (as said smoker immediately stamps out the cigarette and quickly walks away), Sadler had me laughing all the way through. Joss Acklund really doesn't get much to work with as the villain, De Nomolos, but makes it the best he can (although the fact that his name is co-writer Ed Solomon's name backwards is pretty clever).
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey is certainly a bold and original sequel and is carves plenty of new ground for the world of these two lovable numbskulls. It did result in a rather polarizing sequel that has taken some time for audiences to really warm up to, although it has gained a sizable cult following in it's own right. It's certainly one took a few viewings for me to fully appreciate. If nothing else, it's a sequel that never settled for rehashing the original while also being very funny, very unique and very entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment