Long distant sequels to cult-classic predecessors can prove to be both a dicey and tricky move as the new film must match up to as well as honor the legacy of the previous one. Such results have proven to be mixed with similar entries such as Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Zoolander 2 with the closest resemblance to this film being the long-Awaited sequel to Dumb and Dumber titled Dumber And Dumber To. While that film wasn't necessarily awful, it didn't quite live up to the cult status of the original nor its quality. In the case of Bill & Ted Face The Music, the film aims to pick up from where audiences last saw the main characters in 1991 and bring both them as well as the story into today's world with the new film maintaining the same goofy style mayhem and time-bending gimmick of its predecessors. The new Bill & Ted serves as being the long-awaited third installment of the popular series, that not only manages to match the quality of the previous films, but nicely rounds out the series as being both a fun and creative trilogy with it standing as being the best one since the first.
The plot for Bill & Ted Face The Music brings the main characters to present day from where audiences last saw them traveling through time and saving the world in 1991, with the intrepid San Dimas rockers (Played by Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter), now being middle-aged and finding themselves having to save reality once again by creating their own song. They manage to do so with the assistance of their daughters (Played by Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine), their old grim reaper companion named Death (Played once again by William Sadler), and several eminent musicians from the past. The plot for Bill & Ted Face The Music works in regards to keeping in line with the original films, while managing to upgrade it with a more modern setting with showing where the main characters have ended up since when audiences last saw them. What makes the newest film work so well as a third installment of the series, is the fact that it's able to recapture much of the magic and goofy nature of the previous films without missing a beat. The new film stands as being one of the rare long-belated sequels that stands the test of being able to measure up to the legacy of its predecessors, while having something to say in regards to family, friendship, success, aging, and making life choices. For a third film that essentially had no real purpose to be made considering that the second Bill & Ted wrapped up their story nicely, it makes a solid case for justifying its existence with it being just as fun-spirited and good-hearted as the originals, while taking a more deeper tone with its story in regards to tackling themes pertaining to life and growing up. Bill & Ted Face The Music is sequel that absolutely didn't need to be made, but is one that audiences will ultimately be glad that it did.
Besides the creativity of the Bill & Ted series, the main ingredient that always managed to make the films work in terms of being ridiculously fun to watch, are the hilariously charismatic performances of its main leads. Both Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves make for a terrific pair of main leads with them essentially being both the life and heart of the films. They not only manage to effectively convey the goofy nature of their characters, but also the wonder of experiencing the scenarios their characters end up becoming apart of throughout the series along with their amazement of seeing key historical figures come together in an effort to save the world once again through time-travel. For Keanu Reeves, the role of Ted Logan feels like the ideal match for him given that the former can essentially be himself and make his character comes across as being both likable and entertaining to watch. The same can be said about Alex Winter as Bill Preston with his chemistry with Reeves being spot-on in a vein similar to Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in Wayne's World. Both Reeves and Winter feel as if they naturally slip back into their characters with the time gap between the second and third film feeling almost non-existent with how well the performances match up. The rest of the cast does a great job of working off the energy of the films main leads along with adding to their enthusiasm with William Sadler's return as the Grim Reaper Death, being a welcomed one. Like Reeves and Winter, Sadler slips back into his iconic role and plays it just as effectively as before with all three actors making for a solid trio. Sadler also makes the fans empathize with his character upon learning of his fallout with Bill and Ted due to a lawsuit with their reconciliation being ultimately heartwarming. The new additions to the cast all manage to impress with Kristen Schaal delivering a noteworthy performance as Kelly, the daughter of Rufus from the previous two films as well as serving as being a messenger from the future warning Bill & Ted of her mother's (The Great Leader) intentions to kill them . Bridgette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving both manage to impress as Ted and Elizabeth's daughter Billie with Weaving playing Bill and Joanna's daughter Thea. Their roles were the most riskiest and challenging of the new members of the supporting cast with them having to not only work well together as a duo like Reeves and Winter, but imitate the latters personalities with the audience buying them as being the young daughters of the main characters. They not only manage to live up to the expectations placed on them with their parts, but also showcase strong chemistry of their own with the four working together as a fantastic ensemble. Anthony Carrigan proves to be genuinely fun to watch as Dennis Caleb McCoy, an emotionally insecure robot whose sent through time to kill Bill & Ted upon orders given by the Great Leader. Other new faces playing returning characters from the original films shine with Erinn Hayes as Ted's wife Elizabeth along with Jayma Mays as Bill's wife Princess Joanna Preston and Hal Landon Jr. reprising his role as Ted's father Chief Logan. Though their roles are minimal ones in comparison to the rest of the cast, the ensemble ones leave notable impressions such as Amy Stoch as Bill and Ted's former stepmother Missy, Holland Taylor as The Great Leader, Kid Cudi as himself, DazMann Still as Jimi Hendrix, Jeremiah Craft as Louis Armstrong, Daniel Dorr as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Sharon Gee as Ling Lun. The cast for Bill & Ted Face The Music has much to do with why the third film works so well as being a worthy installment of the series with everyone bringing their own style of energy to the film, along with working off the strength of both Reeves and Winter as the main leads. They're not only charming but charismatic in making their characters extremely entertaining to watch, as well as getting the audience to become invested in their adventure through time once again. Both actors also add a surprising amount of humility and heart to their roles with them playing older versions of their characters, who are becoming more self-reflective of their lives and accomplishments. Without their return, the sequel wouldn't have worked ultimately.
In addition to the films decent acting, the directing by Dean Parisot comes across as being a solid effort with him doing a smooth job of blending the films comedic elements with both its adventure and fantasy ones. Like the previous two Bill & Teds, Parisot keeps the story fast-paced with the new film managing to clock in at 91 minutes like the others with the plot providing enough laughs and excitement to keep audiences engaged from start to finish. The films sharp cinematography is well-shot with it making both the sequences involving CGI and time-travel look impressive, along with its soft-focus use of lensing and crisp white lighting. One can definitely tell that this one was filmed in a high-definition style in comparison to the others. On a technological front, Bill & Ted Face The Music looks sharper and is more involved in comparison to the others in terms of its usage of CGI along with it blending with the rest of the film. Of all the Bill & Ted movies, this one serves as being the most impressively shot installment as well as being the most stunning visually. The films soundtrack is well-rounded and enhances both the comedic and dramatic aspects of the story, along with also building off its energy while driving the film further. As far as the directing goes, Dean Parisot's work proves effective in putting together a worthy installment in the Bill & Ted series that not only maintains the spirit of its predecessors, but feels more advanced in the technological department in regards to the films time-travel aspects of its story. He unequivocally gives audiences the best looking film of the series visually, while helping to make it feel more heartfelt in terms of story with it also remaining just as bizarre and fun-spirited as the others.
Written by Chris Matheson and Men In Black's Ed Solomon, the writers do an effective job of bringing the characters back into a more modern setting while making their dynamics feel both relatable and relevant outside of the traditional time-travel story, that accompanies the trilogy as a whole. Though the films overall message saying that music can unite the world comes across as being light-hearted, the script is at its most interesting when exploring situations that many middle-aged people endure in regards to examining their success as well as their failures with concepts regarding the strength of family, friendship, and couples therapy being added to the mix. The writers succeed in showing how Bill & Ted have aged since audiences last saw them, with both now being family men who believe that their lives are fulfilled and perfect until they learn in couples therapy how unhappy their wives are. The writers present the main characters with common issues that many people in Bill & Ted's shoes experience, which make them so relatable with the script examining the characters feeling of not living up to expectations placed upon them in life. For the main characters, this serves as being an ideal theme for them as both Bill & Ted were never shown at the end of the second film to achieve a certain level of success in life outside of their past experiences nor meet their glorious destinies. The characters all remain consistent with their personas from the previous movies, though more emotion and heart is added to them, with the audience even caring about Reapers character with them can't help but being moved by the trios reconciliation of their differences. Though Bill & Ted Face The Music works as being a sequel to the previous films, it feels as if it carries a more emotional depth of the characters in comparison with the new additions to the cast being thoroughly developed enough for the audience to become connected with them. The characters of Thea and Billie are presented as being genuinely fun to watch with them serving as being just as dorky and likeable as their parents. The character of Kelly serves as being a worthy fill-in for the character of Rufus given the actors real-life passing with Kelly's character operating as the more millineal version of her family tree, who disagrees with her mother's decision to have Bill & Ted killed. Dennis McCoys character is also fun to watch with the audience getting a kick out of how insecure his character comes across as being. The plot for the new Bill & Ted wouldn't be ideal without a the concept of time-travel being utilized once again with the exploring of the background of music being a clever way to make the story feel fresh, as well as remaining true to the rest of the series. The subplot involving all the past musical legends all being brought together through time-travel to perform the song that'll save the universe is a clever twist that audiences will have enormous amounts of fun with. In terms of writing, the screenwriters behind Bill & Ted Face The Music do an exceptional job of connecting the newest film to the previous two, with them finding a way to move both the series and characters forward along with managing to explore the old ones, while introducing newer ones that catch the audiences eye. The writers clearly care about making the newest sequel work and manage to provide a fitting closure to the trilogy. In that case, they largely succeed in doing so while appearing to have a blast with writing these characters as much as the actors appear to have playing them.
The best thing that can be said about the newest Bill & Ted is how much of a pleasant surprise it feels in regards to not only being a worthy addition to the series, but how it manages to carry the same goofy style of humor as the previous ones, while making the whole experience feel fresh for newer audiences. The filmmakers designed this one as being a bridge between the fans of the originals with them introducing the series to their own kids. Although the film is meant to be the final chapter in the Bill & Ted universe, it ends the franchise in a way that's both charming and fitting while welcoming a newer generation of audiences to discover the outrageously over-the-top and innocent nature of the series as a whole. The main characters of Bill & Ted are just as fun and ridiculous as when audiences last saw them with a tad more heart added to their character arcs. What could've easily ended up being a completely uninspired and money-driven Hollywood sequel, not only feels well-executed and thoughtful with the filmmakers actually questioning where these characters would be right now, but is one thats made with a clear labor of love for both the characters and story. For a third film in a popular series, Bill & Ted Face The Music works as being one of the rare sequels that manages to beat the odds of the third movie curse with them generally falling short of their predecessors quality, while being surprising with the direction it takes it's iconic duo. Whereas many high profile sequels try and ultimately fail to measure up to the standards of their previous entries, Face The Music both surprisingly and rightfully shows how its done.
Final Verdict: For fans of the Bill & Ted series, Bill & Ted Face The Music serves as being one of the rare threequels in a trilogy that actually works.
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