Bill & Ted Face The Music

In 1978 Martin Scorsese filmed The Last Waltz, a documentary about The Band, showing the group playing a farewell concert and being joined onstage by the cream of the crop of 70's rock. Neil Young pops up, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Dr John, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters and many more. Impressive right. Ha. Wait til you get a load of who ends up onstage at the end of Bill & Ted Face The Music.

From the Orion logo at the start to the joyous end credits this is a film designed to make people nostalgic and make people happy. It couldn't have come at a better time. With the prospect of a second lockdown on the horizon we need a bit of joy, something to take our minds off the madness of this year and bring us back to better times. The world was a different place the last time we met William S. Preston Esquire (Alex Winter) and Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves). Ya, ok there was a little thing happening called the Gulf War but through rose tinted glasses it feels like a nicer time, one without contagion or maniacal despots ruling/ruining the planet. When we first see them here you'll smile from ear to ear, they look older of course and this time they're in suits but they have the same goofy, innocent energy as always. Then Ted says "WHOA!!" and it all kicks off big style *happy air guitar solo*

Bill & Ted have failed. The song that would have saved the planet hasn't been written yet and the universe's time/space continuum is falling apart as a result. Ages are bleeding into each other, Jesus vanishes from 2000 years ago and ends up onstage at a Kid Cudi concert, George Washington winds up in a Californian shrink's office and well, things are getting messy. A face from the future appears and warns of impending doom unless our duo get creating right away. But the creatives juices have dried up, Wyld Stallyns are on a downward trajectory, Bill & Ted's wives, Elizabeth (Erinn Hayes) & Joanna (Jayma Mays) are feeling forgotten and the only ones still carrying the torch OF ROCK are their daughter's Thea (Samara Weaving) & Billy (Brigette Lundy-Paine). The only thing to do is travel forward in time to when the song is already written and snag themselves a copy of it. Which is easier said than done. *tense air guitar solo*

I needed this film and man alive it hit the spot. You'll leave the cinema beaming after it. Yes it's as silly and mind boggling as the originals but there's a real warmth to it too. At it's heart it's the story of two goofs trying to save their marriage while also saving the world, that starts with family disappointment and ends with an intergalactic plea for racial harmony and tolerance. Nostalgia has turned into something topical and it works perfectly, happening so gradually that you don't even notice it until it's right in our face. Then on top of that we get a barrel of laughs chucked at us with the ever changing future versions of Bill & Ted being a visual gag that never gets old until it too gets genuinely old giving us a moment of introspection no one ever expected to see in this franchise. *wistful air guitar solo*

This film could only have worked if Reeves and Winter fully committed and they do indeed. At first it feels a bit awkward, a bit strained but soon the characters are back with us feeling like a comfortable pair of shoes and as their excellent adventure gets zanier you'll get giddier watching along and by the time William Sadler's Death reappears you'll be buzzing. Sadly George Carlin's Rufus can't be back but Kristin Schaal as his daughter is a fun replacement. Speaking of replacements, Bill & Ted's daughter's Elizabeth & Joanna might be around a bit longer. While their Dad's go in one time direction they go in another and get to do things music fans can only dream about until eventually there's a handover of sorts where they take the reigns and maybe, hopefully we might get another film with them in charge.

If your local cinema hasn't closed this is really worth a look. It's a joy from start to finish and you don't really have to have seen the others to get it. Plus there's an insecure killer robot called Dennis Caleb McCoy in it. If he doesn't make you smile nothing will.

*ROCKING OUT AIR GUITAR SOLO*