BILL AND TED FACE THE MUSIC (2020) - Ted "Theodore Logan
Well, I'm going to do my best to a) not include too many spoilers in this post while b) not writing 10,000 words. In fact, I think I'm going to keep this brief and instead will revisit the movie when I come to the conclusion of this project, particularly since I'll be done within a few weeks and "Face the Music" seems like it will be a fitting ending (aside from the recap post I am already planning).
If you've been with me on this journey from the beginning (and I know unequivocally you most likely have NOT), then you would have already read both of my posts about "Excellent Adventure" and "Bogus Journey." Since there's a good chance that anyone finding this post has probably not read those, let me just give a little personal history -
I grew up on the "Bill and Ted" movies and have seen each of them countless times. There was a period in my youth where I could have recited both scripts from memory - this is not an exaggeration. As a kid I did a lot of theater and would frequently memorize entire plays even if I only had a handful of lines, so knowing nearly all of the words to two of my favorite movies wasn't particularly difficult.
Needless to say, Bill and Ted have been a part of my life going on 30 years and rarely a few days go by where I don't find myself quoting something from one of the two movies. I've got an "Excellent Adventure" poster up in the den, my screen name for various video games is "YesWayTed" and even my two idiot cats are named Bill and Ted.
When I first heard that talks were in progress on a third movie over ten years ago, you could say I was just a little bit excited. Of course, it was all talk and little action for a third movie for such a long time that I eventually lost hope that this movie would ever come out and had to live with watching "Excellent Adventure" and "Bogus Journey" a handful of times a year instead. That was also okay, they are my comfort movies that I'll put on if I'm cooking or just trying to take a nap on the couch. I've even gotten a chance to introduce my nephew to both of them and aside from a homophobic slur or two, I believe they still hold up even for a much younger generation.
So, when Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter released this video last year announcing they were actually starting to film the new movie it was basically the best news anyone could have given me:
Unfortunately, unless you are a billionaire, 2020 has basically been a disaster. I often think about the things that have been taken away from us and all things considered I've been pretty lucky. But while a lot of things can be put on hold or replaced later, there are just certain experiences that you can't get back.
I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the experiences that so many of us are losing, whether it is the class of 2020 who have now both been screwed by missing their last months of high school as well as their first year of college (at least for the responsible ones) or the weddings that have had to be canceled or postponed or the new babies that family members are unable to meet (including my new niece born earlier this week who I hope to be able to meet by 2023).
For me, I had been so anticipating being able to see "Face the Music" in theaters that I've been excited about it since the movie's announcement last year. Before COVID, I had planned on taking the day off from work and being at the first showing possible (and depending on how much I liked it potentially seeing it again that same evening). However, the joke is now on me since a) I'm not currently employed due to the pandemic and b) there are no movie theaters near me that are actually operational and even if there were I would not be going to one right now.
Now that I've seen the movie twice in a 24 hour period (I watched it literally the second it came out at midnight and again the next evening), I have to admit that I'm so saddened by the fact that I wasn't able to see this in a crowded theater full of Bill and Ted fans for one simple reason: this movie was *GREAT*.
Look, I know it's hard to believe or trust me on this, I am after all what you might describe as just a little bit biased when it comes to Bill and Ted and Keanu Reeves in general. The good news is, you don't have to trust just me, the movie currently has an 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
You only get to experience a great movie for the first time once, and unfortunately my first time was watching it off of Amazon on my computer instead of with all of the other mega fans that would have been laughing their asses off alongside me in a theater. I'm sure one day a place like the "Alamo Drafthouse" will show all three movies back to back to back, but even then it just won't be the same and for that, I just want to say that COVID can go fuck itself.
I really had expected "Face the Music" to be bad. It's not a secret that when a sequel to a movie comes out more than a few years after the previous film, it's usually VERY bad. There are more examples of this than I can think of but off the top of my head you've got "Dumb and Dumber To" (never seen - 30% score), "The Phantom Menace" (a generous 53%), The Godfather 3 and on and on and on....this is why I have very low expectations for the new "Coming to America" sequel.
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| This photo was literally all I knew going in |
Somehow, I managed to avoid reading anything about "Face the Music" or watching a single trailer. In fact, for the last two or so months as soon as a commercial has come on for the movie I've immediately hit the mute button and closed my eyes and despite the fact that my news feed has been tailored to give me anything Keanu related, I've avoided all articles and interviews as well.
So going in with no expectations and nearly no knowledge of the movie, I still can't believe how good this turned out and (aside from not being able to see it in a theater) what perfect timing it is as this is the movie we all need right now. It's uplifting, it's positive, it's joyful, and I was smiling ear to ear nearly the entire movie, aside from the part where I literally cried (on both of my viewings).
The only thing I do want to say as an initial thought on the movie (VERY MINOR SPOILER AHEAD) is that Anthony Carrigan (who is also brilliant as NoHo Hank in HBO's "Barry") damn near steals this movie as a robot from the future. Just an amazingly hilarious performance.
No spoilers here, go rent the movie and enjoy yourself.
My Movie Rating: 9.5/10
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