After a 29-year break, the return of William S. "Bill" Preston, Esq and Theodore "Ted" Logan to the big screen is better than we probably dared hope for. Not only is Face The Music just as funny as the previous films (if not more so), it also arguably has more heart, poignancy and plot too.

Premise: For the last 25 years, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) have struggled to live up to their destiny as the writers of the song prophesised to unite humanity. Now middle-aged, the weight of their responsibility to the future is putting their marriages in jeopardy, and their failure to write the prophesised song is causing time and space to literally unravel. In a last ditch attempt to save the fabric of reality itself, Bill and Ted decide to travel along their own timeline, while their daughters Wilhelmina "Billie" Logan (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Theadora "Thea" Preston (Samara Weaving) attempt to help their dads put together the ultimate backing band.

Review:

First things first, I’m reviewing Bill & Ted Face The Music from the perspective of a fan of the original Bill & Ted films from the late 80s/early 90s. It’s probably fair to say that if you didn’t grow up with the earlier films, or at least discover them before seeing Face The Music, then your appreciation and enjoyment of this concluding chapter in the trilogy is likely to be very different from mine. In short, while this film doesn’t solely rely on nostalgia for its most comedic and emotional moments, a good understanding of the history of the various characters will go a long way.

If I’m being honest, while I enjoyed 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (and there are many individual moments in the film that I still refer back to today), it’s not a film that I love. I think it might be that the lack of any real plot structure (given that half the joke is that the whole film is just about not flunking a history class) means that it feels more like a collection of skits (some better than others) rather than a cohesive film. On the other hand, I do love 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, which I think is one of the few sequels that genuinely improves on its predecessor. The comedy is sharper, the actors have grown into their characters more, the inventive plot provides more narrative momentum as well as real stakes, and it brings William Sadler into the series, who is hilarious as Death.

“…‘Face The Music’ is arguably the best of the trilogy…”

I was therefore worried that Bill & Ted Face The Music would fail to live up to the standards of Bogus Journey (or potentially even Excellent Adventure), and that it would end the trilogy on a disappointing note. After all, the first two films are about a couple of teenagers/young adults who are dreaming of making it as famous rock stars – but how do you continue that story after a 29-year gap?

I needn’t have worried, because the genius of Face The Music is that the writers of the first two films, Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, have made the 29-year gap the key to the entire film. Whereas the first two films were essentially about the certain knowledge born of the confidence of youth that you are destined for greatness, Face The Music is about coming to terms with the reality that you may never achieve the goals that you took for granted when you were younger. As a result, Face The Music is not only just as good as the earlier films, it’s arguably the best of the trilogy.

“…Keanu Reeves’ & Alex Winter’s affection for their characters shines through in their performances…”

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return to their characters for the first time in nearly three decades, but they effortlessly make the middle-aged Bill and Ted charming and sympathetic. Comedy characters like Bill and Ted (in other words, comedy characters who are arguably dumber than anyone could be in real life) can very easily become annoying – especially when they are now grown adults and no longer “moronic teenagers”. But Reeves’ and Winter’s affection for their characters shines through in their performances, so that Bill and Ted are always well-meaning and loveable goofs rather than irritating jerks. Ultimately, perhaps what separates Bill and Ted from other superficially similar comedy characters is that their whole personalities have always been centred around kindness and compassion – or as they would say, “being excellent to each other”.

This is especially evident in their interactions with their families. “The Princesses”, Elizabeth and Joanna, are now played by Erinn Hayes and Jayma Mays, who do a great job of showing why they’ve remained with Bill and Ted for the last 25 years despite their obvious flaws. Hayes and Mays have more to do in this film than the Princesses have in the previous films, and the couples’ therapy scene is one of the comedy highlights of the film.

“…Brigette Lundy-Paine & Samara Weaving give great comedic performances as mini-versions of their dads…”

Equally, Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving give great comedic performances as Wilhelmina "Billie" Logan and Theadora "Thea" Preston, who are essentially mini-versions of their dads. The fact that Ted named his daughter Billie, and Bill named his daughter Thea, is both funny and touching, like so much of Face The Music. Of the two of them, Brigette Lundy-Paine does the more obvious impression of her onscreen father (Keanu Reeves having a distinctive delivery style that is very easy to mimic), but Samara Weaving also captures the wide-eyed enthusiasm and optimism of her fictional father.

The rest of the supporting cast is also fantastic. There are some great gags involving returning characters like Death (William Sadler), Captain Logan (Hal Landon Jr) and Missy (Amy Stoch), as well as some great new comedic characters from Jillian Bell and Anthony Carrigan. In a touching move, Kristen Schaal plays Kelly, the daughter of Rufus who was Bill and Ted’s mentor in the first two films, and who was played by George Carlin prior to his death in 2008. There are also a couple of very funny surprise cameos, which I won’t give away.

“…many of the scenes are simultaneously laugh-out-loud funny & touching…”

But ultimately, the films is carried by Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, and they both do a fantastic job. Whether it’s playing the current versions of their characters as they struggle with the pressure of writing the song that will save all of time and space, or whether they’re playing alternative versions of their characters from different points along their personal timelines, they’re clearly having a blast and they’re great fun to spend time with. Reeves and Winter make many of their scenes simultaneously laugh-out-loud funny and touching, which adds an extra dimension to this final chapter.

The Bill & Ted films have always played funny – but very clever – tricks with the time-travel rules, and Face The Music is no exception. And although there is arguably a slight retconning of the end of Bogus Journey (as the end credits on Bogus Journey implied that the song performed in the movie’s finale was the prophesised song, but Face The Music makes it clear that it was not), the film actually works surprisingly well with the continuity from the earlier films.

“…one hell of an encore…”

Without giving anything away, the finale of Face The Music is a surprisingly poignant and thoughtful one, and includes a few big surprises (at least one of which I didn’t seen coming at all). But what makes Face The Music so much fun is that not only does it arguably have more plot and character development than the first two films, it’s also just as funny. Like with any trilogy, if you’re not already familiar with the characters, you may struggle to start the trilogy with the final instalment – but for those who have “partied on” with Bill and Ted for the last 30 years, this is one hell of an encore.