25 years after their last bogus journey through time, space and the afterlife, Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter), and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) return to face the music, and while this doesn't quite live up to their earlier excellent adventures, it's still well worth a watch.
We catch up with middle-aged Bill and Ted, who have now settled down with their wives and daughters in San Dimas and put their time-travelling exploits behind them. Unfortunately, they still haven't quite managed to write the greatest song of all time and unite humanity in the process.
When Rufus' daughter Kelly (Kristen Schaal) drops in from the future to inform them that the stakes are much higher (like, apocalyptic) than they realized, the dim-witted duo decide to travel to the future when they've already written the song and take it from their older selves.
It takes a while to get used to these older takes on Bill and Ted, but Winter and Reeves do such a great job of reprising their iconic roles that it soon feels like no time at all has passed. The pair are joined by their equally affable daughters Wilhelmina (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Theodora (Samara Weaving), who have clearly been introduced to (potentially) carry on the franchise. They're fine, but are never really given the chance to establish themselves as fully formed characters. "Bill and Ted but teenage girls" only goes so far.
The great William Sadler also returns as the Grim Reaper, and even though he only shows up towards the end of the movie, it's a joy to see him rock out with the Wyld Stallyns again.
While Face the Music is always fun, it's not quite as funny as it should be. There are hilarious moments (the scene with Bill and Ted encountering their gun-toting future selves is a riot), but a lot of the gags do fall flat. The biggest perpetrator is a bizarre new robot character, who turns out to be a humor vacuum. He wanders aimlessly through the movie trying to tell people his stupid name, and you're left waiting for a punchline that never comes. We already have one pale, insecure death machine, we don't need another.
The plot is all over the place and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but that's always been part of the charm. The Bill and Ted flicks never aspired to be anything other than silly sci-fi romps starring a couple of likable idiots, and that's exactly what we get with this third installment.
Bill and Ted Face the Music may not be the most excellent return we were hoping for, but fans should still find a lot to love. It's a little uneven and not up there with Adventure or Journey, but it's hard to be too critical of a movie with its heart planted so firmly on its checkered sleeve. Air guitars at the ready!