Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) Orion/Comedy-Sci-Fi RT: 93 minutes Rated PG (language, innuendo, some mild violence) Director: Pete Hewitt Screenplay: Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon Music: David Newman Cinematography: Oliver Wood Release date: July 19, 1991 (US) Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler, Joss Ackland, Pam Grier, George Carlin, Amy Stock-Poynton, Jim Martin, Hal Landon Jr., Annette Azcuy, Sarah Trigger, Chelcie Ross, Taj Mahal, Robert Noble, Hal Landon Sr., Eleni Kelakos, Roy Brocksmith, J. Patrick McNamara. Box Office: $38M (US)
Rating: ***
In the first Bill & Ted movie, the future depended on the two dimwitted high schoolers acing their history report. In the follow-up Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, it depends on them winning a Battle of the Bands contest. There are those, in the 27th century, who would like to see a different version than the peaceful utopian paradise created by Bill and Ted’s music, one founded on the simple philosophy of being excellent to each other.
Directed by Pete Hewitt (The Borrowers), Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is mostly good, but it makes the same mistake nearly every sequel makes. It tries too hard to outdo the original and suffers for it. Thankfully, the damage is relatively minor in this case.
Life is a sweet dream in 2691 with the world at peace and all of the problems that once plagued our planet solved. It’s all because of Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Winter, Death Wish 3) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Reeves, Point Break), the two cheerfully dumb musicians from San Dimas who now make up half of garage band Wyld Stallyns. The other half is the two 15th century princesses they picked up in the first movie. The guys still can’t play their instruments yet they still try out for the Battle of the Bands. Even more unbelievable, they get a slot in the show.
This is how it’s supposed to go down in 1991, but somebody is out to make sure they don’t play. That would be De Nomolos (Ackland, Lethal Weapon 2), a terrorist determined to destroy a society he sees as foolish. His evil plan involves sending bad robot versions of Bill and Ted (also played by Winter and Reeves) through time to kill the real Bill and Ted and replace them on stage. This will alter the course of the future in a big way. The robots succeed in killing Bill and Ted, but it’s far from the end of their story. They’re about to go on a journey that will take them through Heaven, Hell and the Afterlife in between. It will have them make contact with benevolent extra-terrestrial beings. It will also bring them face-to-face with Death himself (Sadler, Die Hard 2).
The first movie is a light, breezy affair that plays like a world history overview on laughing gas. The biggest danger faced by our helium-headed heroes, aside from being lost in the circuits of time, is the threat of Ted being shipped off to military school by his authoritarian father. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey drifts into the surreal lane on more than one occasion. Events take a comparatively darker turn with Bill and Ted literally fighting for their mortal souls against a seemingly undefeatable foe, the Grim Reaper. It’s here that the movie shows surprising intelligence in referencing Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal only instead of challenging Death to a game of chess, the guys wager their souls on games like Battleship, Clue and Twister. It’s one of the movie’s more clever touches.
Speaking of clever, I have to give props to ANY movie that (a) references Butch and Sundance: The Early Days and (b) knows the original title of Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 was Smokey IS the Bandit. That last one is an obscure factoid known only to die-hard movie buffs like me.
The wonderful rapport shared by Reeves and Winter during their excellent adventure carries over to their bogus journey. I’m not only referring the good versions of their characters, but the bad robots ones as well. I like how they shift gears between the two sets of Bill and Ted. It’s in the dialogue and how they say it. On top of that, they have a perfect straight man in Sadler who gets to show his lighter side after playing villains in Hard to Kill and Die Hard 2. Who says the Grim Reaper can’t have a little fun? Ackland is quite good as the villainous De Nomolos. He has a quietly menacing air that makes him an ideal bad guy. And what about George Carlin’s character Rufus? He’s back. He plays a smaller but no less important role in Bill and Ted’s latest excursion.
The special effects in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey are a little better. I especially like the two aliens, collectively known as “Station”, that help the guys in their fight against bad Bill and Ted. The set design ranges from the colorful (2691 San Dimas) to the nightmarish (Hell). It’s the latter that gives the movie an uneven feeling. At the very least, it’s noticeably jarring. The music is good too, especially the final number “God Gave Rock and Roll to You”.
Although I prefer the original one, there’s a great deal of fun to be had with Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. It has a lot of energy and originality. Also, it’s smarter than the usual teen comedy even with its non-Mensa protagonists. Most importantly, it’s genuinely funny. Some of the laughs are of the knowing kind; others are of the dum-dum variety. Hewitt and returning writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon deftly balance the two to make something that works better than it should. It’s not perfect, but I’ll take it.
