Bill & Ted Face the Music (Dean Parisot, 2020)
Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine
This was fun.
Chuck Bowen: Parisot is at least partially responsible for informing another far-out comic adventure with startling pathos, 1999’s Galaxy Quest, which is a classic. Bill & Ted Face the Music doesn’t hit that film’s high notes; it’s mild but consistently pleasing, and it grows more likeable as Bill and Ted join up with their daughters, Thea (Samara Weaving) and Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine), to pen the miracle song. The film is ultimately concerned with the reunion of families, biological and surrogate alike, which it links to the erosion of hope and community in the modern age. Even the historical legends are better utilized here, as there’s an especially lovely moment when Mozart (Daniel Dorr) and Jimi Hendrix (DazMann Still) connect through a jam session. It’s the sort of communion that suggests that Bill and Ted’s dreams of stardom, which have evolved into dreams of acceptance and expression, aren’t so stupid after all. Slant Magazine.
Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 19 January, 2021 | Now: 19 January, 2021