Over the holidays this past weekend, Kristen and I decided to watch through all three Bill and Ted movies, starting with the one we’d seen before, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and then go into some new ones for us. We both have enjoyed Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure before, but how does it hold up now and how is the whole trilogy?

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Bill and Ted are two high school students who want nothing more than to take the world by storm with their band, the Wyld Stallyns. However, they are almost failing history, and if that happens, Ted is going to be sent to military school. Rufus, a man from the future, comes to the past to save them and give them the push they need to save reality.

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey

Back again Bill and Ted are just middling musicians and Wyld Stallyns hasn’t taken off, there’s a chance, however, as they get into Battle of the Bands. But things change again when more future people come back and Bill and Ted’s life changes most drastically. Will Bill and Ted be able to get to the battle of the bands and save the world?

Bill & Ted Face the Music

Life still hasn’t gone right for Bill and Ted. Things were going well for the Wyld Stallyns after the battle of the bands, and they had played the Grand Canyon, but that fame didn’t last and they still hadn’t figured out the song that was going to unite the world across all of space and time. And their wives and relatives are having trouble seeing the big picture. Their daughters still believe in them, but when the future begins to doubt them, will they be able to save all of reality?

Thoughts on the Films

This is an extremely silly series of films, with a lot of 80’s and early 90’s feel to it even in the film, Bill & Ted Face the Music, that came out this year. I think that makes the series work well enough. The first two are extremely entertaining, I think that it works as a series that makes little to no sense, and does some very fun things. The third one has a little bit of a different pattern to the ending, but one that works well, as well, though not really any sort of surprise to it. But they keep a similar feel to the jokes throughout all three of the films, and it works in all of them.

Bill and Ted are both very entertaining characters in these films, and the fact that they have a lot of the same talent throughout the whole thing is really interesting. They do recast a few of the characters between films, but a lot of the key players remain the same. The fact that Missy is played by the same actress throughout is a lot of fun, and kind of hilarious how they weave that story throughout the whole thing.

I do think that in order of best to worst is the order that they came out. That isn’t a knock against Bill and Ted Face the Music as much as it is a comment on how solid the first two are. They really hit the right notes for the comedy and I think that Bill and Ted Face the Music is good at hitting those notes, but can at time fall into a different type of sophomoric humor than the previous two installments. And a lot of that is just because of how much time has passed between the first two installments and the third as well, it doesn’t flow as well with the actors.

Final Thoughts

The whole of the three films are very entertaining and definitely worth checking out. They definitely need to be watched in order otherwise they won’t make any sense, so I’d skip just going for the latest and greatest. I do wonder how much I’ll rewatch Bill & Ted Face the Music, but I know that I’ll watch the other two again for sure. They definitely did a solid job, though, for taking something that has been a cult classic for a long time and giving it a fitting sequel. Definitely a trilogy of sophomoric films with a interesting twist to watch.

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