The time has come for me to finally review the third instalment in the Bill & Ted franchise, Face the Music (2020). Being a huge geek for the first two movies I was ecstatic to find out a third was being made and I couldn’t wait to watch it in the cinema, although this movie may primarily appeal to fans of the original films I would say you don’t need any prior knowledge of the narrative. Realistically, if you are open to have a good laugh and watch two grown men being a bit silly then you’ll enjoy this movie but for us ‘real’ fans this movie is full of a special nostalgia that only Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves can evoke when together on screen. Ultimately, I’ve been waiting to watch the reunion of this cast for too long and I was not disappointed by the outcome in the slightest.
In a nut shell, this narrative is just as bizarre as the previous, Bill & Ted are told by the ruler of the future that they must compose a brand new song to save life as we know it… but instead of writing the song the two decide to travel through time and steal it from their older selves. Meanwhile their daughters devise their own plan to band together the worlds best musicians throughout time to help their dads bring harmony to the universe. An unfathomable story yet simply genius, the storyline merges both Bill and Ted’s journey perfectly with their daughters own adventure, for some original fans of the franchise this version may concentrate too much on the characters of Billie and Thea but for me, I found it to be incredibly refreshing. I went to watch this movie because I love Bill & Ted, of course, but actors Brigette Lundy-Paine (Billie) and Samara Weaving (Thea) did a brilliant job of making the daughters just as intriguing and just as ridiculous as Bill & Ted were at their age in the original movies. I felt like the franchise has been reborn with the addition of the daughters characters, could there be another movie just about Billie and Thea? Maybe, could it stand alone without Bill and Ted? I doubt it but I’m still hopeful haha!
The storyline, as I was expecting, was very fast and high energy from beginning to end. If somebody asked me to explain the full narrative in detail, I would struggle because the movie was all over the place. Although that sounds like a criticism, it isn’t. The Bill and Ted movies are always all over the place, it is part of the aesthetic which I love. Although, I did find the second half of the movie to be especially confusing. It was almost an overload to the senses, loud rock music, characters shouting over each other, Bill and Ted meeting their future selves with different appearances and motive, their daughters jumping through time, the special effects and historians dropping out of the sky all over the place… basically, what I’m trying to say is, I was completely and utterly impressed by the comeback of this movie. Reeves and Winter did an excellent job of reviving their characters whilst still being adults but what let the movie down for me was the ending. The ending felt very rushed and forced, everything was happening at the same time which felt chaotic and even though the characters only had a small amount of time left to save humanity, the movie itself felt like it was at a rush to end. Maybe that was a creative choice, in hindsight it makes sense that the movie was rushing as the characters were being rushed but for me it felt a little unintentional. The narrative was still simple to follow, luckily the Bill and Ted movies aren’t anything on a Christopher Nolan movie but it felt unprofessional like the ending was a second thought and it almost didn’t matter how it ended. Apart from the scrambled ending I still thoroughly enjoyed this movie, It was everything I wanted and more. I will one hundred percent be buying it on DVD and watching it one million times more!
This review may be a little bias as I do love what the Bill & Ted movies represent, simplistic movie making just to make audiences laugh and have a good time. Of course, I love all types of films but these movies hit different, who doesn’t love a movie that you don’t even have to concentrate while watching? Feel good movies are something the world really needs right now and Bill & Ted could not have been released at a better time for me. Sometimes we feel like we might hit rock bottom but for me movies help me get back up again and this spectacular film made me feel so happy and energised, so thanks Bill & Ted. Basically, I recommend you watch this movie, it is the movie 2020 really needs in these confusing, isolating times. Go rock out with the Wild Stallyns, you won’t regret it dude.
Commentaires