Hey there dudes! Are you ready to go on another excellent adventure with Bill and Ted, because I sure I am! Okay all jokes aside welcome to my review on the sequel to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. I would’ve gotten this out sooner but I wasn’t able to see this one in time for the release of the (allegedly good) Face the Music, but better late than never. So if you read my review of Excellent Adventure you know that I really enjoyed it and found it to be a charming flick that’s a lot of fun to watch. So I was curious about this follow up and I was surprised to see that it actually got a pretty mixed reception with some finding it to be hilarious, and some not liking it at all. It actually made me even more interested in checking it out if I’m gonna be honest and so I did and… I ended up having a pretty good time with it! So without further ado let’s join Bill & Ted in yet another adventure that will take them to some pretty strange places this time around!
Right off the bat we are in the Utopian future world that Bill and Ted are responsible for, thanks to their music uniting the world. Unfortunately though a group of future terrorist led by one Chuck De Nomolos are intent on to altar history as they despise what Bill and Ted have done to society as they find it completely foolish. So they steal a time traveling phone booth and send in robot versions of Bill and Ted back in time to the late 20th century so they can stop the actual Bill and Ted from winning the Battle of the Bands competition in San Dimas. Meanwhile in the late 20th century, Bill and Ted are still struggling with their music, even though their two girlfriends they made at the end of the last movie, princesses Joanna, and Elizabeth, have become very skilled musicians. They are still signed up for the competition though and need to win it for the $20,000, and record deal they’ll receive if they do. But after proposing to their girlfriends for marriage, the evil Bill and Ted come and eventually lure them far away from San Dimas and outright kill them! So now Bill & Ted must go on a Bogus Journey that will take them to many strange, and extraordinary places in order to stop their maniacal doppelgangers from ruining history, and taking Joanna, and Elizabeth away from them before it’s too late!
When the movie started I will admit that I wasn’t totally onboard with the story at first. Reason being is while it was neat seeing more of the future society established by Bill and Ted, the basic set up seemed a little like the first film in a number of ways. You had Bill and Ted needing to do well for some big event, Ted’s father threatening to send him to military school, and Rufus going back in time to make sure things go as planned among others, them having to go on an adventure in order to save the day, and a big performance at the end meaning it does follow similar beats as the original in some ways. Also I’m not gonna lie in saying that it wasn’t as funny as the first thus far with most of the jokes not quite landing as much as they should’ve. That being said I do like that the stakes established are higher, and the introduction of an actual threat to take down does help in making this one different from it’s predecessor. So everything is pretty uneven for a while, but once Bill and Ted get killed and have to through Hell, and Heaven to get back I felt like that’s where the movie found it’s groove and it was where the movie most differs from it’s predecessor. It definitely feels like the writers decided to go all out, and crank up the craziness to 11 as we see Bill and Ted in the afterlife, encounter Death himself (more on that later), literally go to Hell and face their greatest fears, build robot versions of themselves, and much more and I couldn’t help but enjoy it (one of my favorite scenes is when our duo are confronting their greatest fears and it’s bizarre, yet fun at the same time). There’s a lot of funny jokes here (I myself am partial to the part where Bill and Ted have to challenge Death, and they play board games to do that) and some visually creative moments sprinkled throughout, plus I thought the climax was pretty fun as well and actually does do a decent job of wrapping things up so that a third one didn’t necessarily need to happen (it did thought… 32 years later). It may not be as briskly paced as the original, and that first act is the most investing, but it mostly works when it decides to go all in and it does a nice job of expanding the world as well.
If there is one thing that I feel that this movie did do better than the first is in terms of it’s visuals, and production design. While the first is pretty well made for what it is, it didn’t exactly have the highest budget and it did show at points. Here while naturally certain effects may be dated, all of the sets, costumes, and even puppetry here (used to bring Satan, and the amusing alien creature or creatures?, Station to life) are very well utilized and are cool giving the movie a lot of atmosphere at times, particularly in Hell which looks appropriately, well hellish, and where Death’s gothic home. I also liked how the color scheme changes depending on where they are like how it looks all dreary, and grey when Bill and Ted die or lots of brightness in Heaven and the use of close ups at times are used to comedic effect really exaggerating things to the next level then they already were. I’m all in for some visual inventiveness and in this case it also helps in making this one stand out from it’s predecessor and it’s arguably an improvement in that regard. As for how well Bill and Ted’s chemistry is here, well once again Keanu Reeves, and Alex Winter are both a ton of fun in their roles once again, maintaining the dynamic that worked so well in the previous film and they even get to have some more fun portraying evil versions of the iconic duo in the form of the robot versions of them. It was also neat seeing their medieval wives, Joanna (Sarah Trigger), and Elizabeth (Annette Azcuy) play a bigger role here, even if they ultimately become damsels in distress in the climax, and fellow returning players like Amy Stock-Poynton as Bill’s (and now Ted’s) step mom, and Hal Landon Jr.’s Captain Johnathan Logan have their moments (the latter gets an amusing scene as he, and a deputy are possessed by the two). As for De Nomolos, well he’s a serviceable if underutilized baddie that doesn’t really appear much throughout save for the beginning, and end, and who is only memorable due to Joss Ackland’s villainous portrayal. But for me the stand out here is easily William Sadler’s portrayal of Death as he was absolutely hilarious with his annoyance at being dragged into Bill and Ted’s adventure, and his eventual enjoyment of their company being a highlight plus his reactions to certain things are just priceless. All in all he’s just a big scene stealer, and my favorite part of the whole film.
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is yet another enjoyable ride with the time traveling duo, one that has it’s share problems that prevent it from being as good as the first like an uneven first act, and pacing, not every joke lands, and certain plot elements that are similar to the first yet it still does certain things quite well such as it’s willingness to go all out in the second half, higher stakes, very strong production design, creative visuals, the chemistry of Bill & Ted is still strong, and William Sadler’s entertaining take on Death. While Excellent Adventure is probably more re watchable, and is a better constructed product overall, I still do appreciate this one for what it does differently and it mostly works for me. Still those it was fun seeing both of these for the first time as they are both fun products of their time that still have a nice goofy charm to them and I am looking forward to seeing Bill & Ted Face the Music (which I will of course review when I do) to see what they were able to come up with 32 years later!
Rating: B
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