Review of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) by Edward S — 26 Apr 2012

Bill and Ted are funnier than ever in a brilliant display of 80's slacker metal culture, but this movie has a strange enthusiasm, perhaps even infatuation, with historical figures that never really pulls through to material results. It shoehorns tons of historical figures for the sake of having their names appear in the film; once they've amassed the characters, there's nothing interesting for them to do. They sort of wander about doing silly things really any other plot element could have achieved until the film's climactic ending.

But, there's really no purpose in introducing Joan of Arc or Sigmund Freud for the sake of next to zero jokes that relate to their significance. The film makes almost no effort in taking advantage of the figures it shows us, with the exception of occasionally weaving the figures as targets of Bill & Ted's humor. It seems like a waste and a lapse of logic.

What exactly is the pay-off for all the frustrating plot conflicts and false promises relating to the premise? A few funny time-travel jokes, Bill & Ted's most excellent dialogue and air guitars, a utopia built on metal music, and Beethoven playing Nuno Bennencourt?

....

Hell yea.