Review of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) by Chris I — 26 Apr 2016

"Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" is pretty much what you would expect from the sequel to a dumb comedy. The jokes were funnier the first time around, the quirks of the characters were more amusing the first time around, and the story isn't as interesting.

The movie does have its moments. The possession scene the Grim Reaper challenge sequence, and the "Uranus" joke will have you laughing out loud, but there are so many other moments that remind us that the novelty of the first film has worn off.

The airheaded charm of the main characters in the first film feels more like bad acting in this sequel. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" works because of the historical characters in anachronistic situations.

But when you remove the situational comedy of the historical characters, the film relies solely on the character development of Bill and Ted and there isn't really anywhere for it to go. The redeeming quality of this film is William Sadler's performance as the Grim Reaper.

The character was very well written and Sadler creates the best comedic moments of the film through his line delivery and accent. Even after providing us with a few laughs, the disjointed resolution of the story does not deliver much of a payoff.

"Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" strikes a few positive chords but I would much rather watch "Excellent Adventure" than watch this sequel again.