Bill and Ted Face the Music

Neutral—This movie is funny, but it is not for younger audiences, despite the fact that it is a comedy, because it makes Hell look like a place that people can get out of easily and it has a few swear words. I watched it because the ridiculous humor in the trailer appealed to me, and I wanted to go to the movies.

Some of the characters travel in time and historical figures get moved in time. In this sequence, they include Jesus, and while not overtly made to be offensive, this could bother people.

Another concern is a non-human character that is suicidal. The scene is meant to be funny and does not feel heavy, as the character is not human, but I am guessing this scene is the reason they gave the movie a PG-13 rating when it feels like a PG movie.

Overall, though, as an adult this movie made me laugh a lot. I have never even seen the previous Bill and Ted movies, and I still was able to enjoy this one.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3

Negative—I was holding out for the supposed plot to flesh out, but instead it got flushed down. Nothing about the movie makes the lease bit of sense anyways, so I wasn’t surprised when anything resembling a purpose blew up in the character’s faces on multiple occasions. I thought their performances were interesting, but the Wild Stallion’s daughters were just way, over-the-top, too nerdy! This shifted the entire focus completely off of the musicians whom they gathered from different eras in time… I would have much rather witnessed a Classical, Ancient Chinese flute, and Rock fusion (where I thought the movie was going), instead of making (yes, making) the people from all of time and space sing with you in some convoluted mishmash of blaring guitar solos and Millennial “Yah yah yah yah!” vocals. The majority of people and races from all across time would more likely have been put off by the music being played at the end, than welcoming to it, simply because we all have very different styles that we’re all used to, and something this shocking might even come as horrific to listeners just 200 years ago. It was horrific to me, and I was born in the 80's!

Albeit, 80’s music is rather cool, but placing special emphasis on the “rock” element of it is limiting when the whole world is listening. Why not throw in some Newwave, for instance? Or, why not create something completely new to interest the world? There are so many interesting sub-genres out there in 2020 that even bringing in some common chords of just one of those would have improved the musical quality of the movie tremendously. What movie-goers need is variety, not the same (although exciting) “rad dude!” music of eras gone by.

The crux of the matter is this… you can’t unify the world with music, but only with the Lord. Most disturbing is when someone in the movie said something to effect of, “We don’t need it to be good… we just need them all to be playing it together.” Now that, from a Christian perspective, and from someone who has read George Orwell’s 1984, is truly concerning.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 1

…a better tribute to the one-world utopian power of classic rock than “Yesterday” was… has a high-fluff effervescence… weightless and super-goofy—a blissed-out air balloon of nostalgia. It zips right along, it makes you smile and chortle, it’s a surprisingly sweet-spirited love story. … [5/5]

…wallpapering the plot with layers of absurdity… I found the film’s 90-minute running time draining, its story needlessly, maddeningly convoluted. I also lamented missed opportunities for in-jokes, sly sub-references, even guerilla fourth-wall demolition hijinks. …It all ends in hell — literally in hell, with flames and devils and tumbling bodies…

…Not so excellent… half-baked sequel is a forced exercise, willed into being by the so-called “Keanussance”—society’s renewed love affair with Reeves. He’s a nice guy and a decent actor, but he’s made a lame movie. It’ll let down even hardcore fans. … [1/4]

…a fun but forgettable time-travelling comedy. Neither bodacious nor bogus… this threequel mainly rehashes past glories, neglecting new material for a Greatest Hits compilation of beats from the franchise’s first films… [3/5]

…little payoff… The result is just a bigger, louder, more special effects-laden extension of a franchise that skated on pretty thin ice the first two times around. … [2/4]

…sweet and hopeful and, of course, kind of stupid, but that’s a big part of the point… It is not a great movie, nor is it meant to be. It is pure escapism. …