The Wyld Stallyns are back for a most excellent middle-aged adventure.
After years of being in production limbo—and nearly three decades since the last movie—we’re finally getting the third part of the Bill & Ted saga. The new movie is called Bill & Ted Face the Music, and follow the duo (played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) in their middle age.
And if you’re not familiar with the series, here goes. The first movie—Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure—debuted onscreen in 1989, introducing us to the pair of teenage slackers from San Dimas, California. The two are trying to get their rock and roll band, Wyld Stallyns, off the ground and are visited by a man called Rufus, who comes from a future where their music has shaped a utopian society.
The future, apparently, would be in danger if they failed their history class, because Ted’s dad would ship him off to military school and the Wyld Stallyns would never get their chance. Rufus then gives them a time-traveling phone booth, to get a better feel of history. In their romp across time, they meet famous figures from the past (Billy the Kid, Napoleon Bonaparte, Socrates, and so on), fall in love with princesses from England (who will also end up changing the world with them as part of the band), and pass their class in the end. They are, however, still inept musicians.
In the second film—Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey—they’re up against evil robot versions of themselves. They both get killed, but manage to win a few games versus Death himself (think Battleship, Twister, and Clue) to earn their souls back. They get their lives back on track, and the big fin
comes in the San Dimas Battle of the Bands, where they’re supposed to play onstage for a worldwide audience.
And they’re still inept musicians, so they time-travel for a few months, take some intensive music training, and go back onstage. Bill returns with a massive beard, Ted with a 90s goatee, and they’ve both had children withe princesses from England. By the end of it, the whole world is rocking with them, and they finally become famous.
So that brings us back to now. Bill and Ted seem to be in a midlife crisis, and are struggling to find an audience. Apparently, they’ve spent the past 25 years trying to write the song that would bring the world together, with no success. That’s when they hatch a plan to travel to the future and steal it from themselves. The trailer also shows their grown-up daughters (played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving), and the return of Death (played by William Sadler).
And sure, the series might be campy, the physics a little wonky, and the entire concept a bit too farfetched: but it’s also a cult classic, a prime example of a pop-culture time-travel story.
Will this be more than a nostalgic throwback? Will it manage to recapture the magic of the old Bill & Ted movies? Will something from the ‘80s and ‘90s find its legs in the modern world?
Well, it seems we don’t have to wait long to find out. If anything, it would be interesting to see Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves as spaced-out rockers again.
Catch the trailer here:
