BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
A film review by Greg Goebel
Copyright 1989 Greg Goebel
Misadventures in Time & Space: BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
* BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE is a low-budget, derivative, silly film that shamelessly panders to its teen-age target audience; it represents nothing new in film-making; and is blatantly commercial.
I had a *great* time!
The plot is simple enough. Bill and Ted are two California kids who want to become famous rock stars. There's only one problem: they can't play their instruments. Well, actually, there's two problems: they're both complete boneheads, and their hardnosed history teacher tells them that if they *don't* pass their oral history report, they *will* flunk out of school!
This oral report involves imagining what historical personages would've thought of the present day and the local environment. Not too demanding, but it's still above the ability of these two -- and if they flunk, Ted's sourpuss dad intends to send him off to a military academy in Alaska -- and the two friends will be separated, probably forever.
Fortunately, the society of Earth 700 years from now has a special interest in them, and an agent (George Carlin) is sent back in a time machine (shaped like a phone booth -- a normal one, not a British police box) to help out. So Bill and Ted have in their hands the best possible tool for conducting historical research ...
This sounds silly, and it is; and all the unkind things I said above about this movie are true -- which leads to the question: What saves it?
Simple enough: Bill and Ted. These two guys don't look like they have the collective mental energy to make a nightlight glow: they don't actually have to *do* anything to be funny. You laugh at them even if they're just *standing* there!
Though when push comes to shove, it turns out they're not inherently dumb by any means -- like a lot of teenagers, they just need to get motivated. It's hard not to like them -- they're about as good-natured kids as you're likely to find. Bill has the initiative; he takes risks without hesitation (because he doesn't realize what he's getting into). Ted is a born romantic, a sweet-faced kid who all the girls think is really cute; any time he sees a good-looking girl his heart leaps into his throat and stars flicker in his eyes.
The story, like I said, is silly -- but silliness is hardly a critical term when applied to a comedy -- and it does have its moments (Napoleon at the water slides, Genghis Kahn ... well, I won't say any more). It certainly does pander to teenagers -- nearly all the adults are creeps or morons, and the kids turn the tables on them in the end -- but it also made me feel wistful. I didn't enjoy being a teenager; this film reminds me, in its own bizarre way, that it could've been more fun than it was.
The only thing I can seriously say against this film was that by the time it was over I was glad I didn't have to listen to "PARTY ON, DUDE!" and "EXCELLENT!" one more time.
BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE will not win any awards -- in fact, nobody in their right mind would recommend it for one. Some movies are like expensive dinners; others are like Big Macs. But as Big Macs go, BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE is pretty tasty, and I hope they make a fortune on it.
Oh, yeah, the usual cautions: No noticeable bad language, overt sexual activity, or graphic violence (unless you are the sort of person who feels that the Three Stooges are a bad influence on kids). Not for people who only go to serious films [author shakes his head sadly, then shrugs] ... they should go to something with subtitles.
[<> gvg / 28 FEB 89]
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