Bill & Ted Face the Music
Directed by Dean Parigot (2020)
Bill & Ted Face the Music arrived on streaming deep into the worst year of our collective lives, and its optimism felt like a lifeline. Somehow, against all odds, the sweetness still works. In this third outing, Bill and Ted are now middle-aged dads with two teenage daughters (yes, daughters; studio interference, cry the usual suspects, since they were boys at the end of Bogus Journey). But honestly, Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Thea (Samara Weaving) are great. They completely nail the gee-whiz wonder, quiet insight, and sincerity that defined their dads. Their total lack of cynicism was refreshing in 2020 and still holds up now.
As for the original duo, they haven’t saved the world with music yet. Wyld Stallyns is no more, and their marriages are falling apart. What could’ve been the most depressing chapter ends up the most heartfelt. There are no rough edges here, just two aging slackers trying to do their best. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter might look older, but they’re still locked into these roles with surprising grace.
The plot is nonsense, but delightfully so. They have hours to write the song that will save time and space, so they keep time-jumping to steal it from their future selves. It’s as dumb as it sounds, but that’s part of the fun. Not every joke lands (Dennis the robot is a swing and a miss), and the subplot with the princesses is a mess with no real resolution. They were recast for the third time too, for some reason.
But the movie shines whenever it leans into joy. The daughters traveling through time to recruit famous musicians is classic Bill & Ted, pure creative anarchy. Those scenes are incredibly fun and remind you why this series ever worked in the first place.
What makes Face the Music a worthy ending isn’t the plot. It’s the heart. It suggests that even if you never quite figure things out, maybe your kids will. That music can bring us together. That reality itself is simply energy, frequency, and vibration. And ultimately that saving the world is a group project. Dudes…that’s a righteous and most excellent sentiment.
Rating: B+
