Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
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Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Movie Review
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a 1989 adventure comedy film directed by Stephen Herek and starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. It’s an overrated movie.
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“Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K“
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It follows two slackers who travel through time and meet various famous historical figures so that they can pass the test as they are near to be flunked. I found this premise pretty fine and the movie is solid for what it is which is a fun, even charming 80s adventure flick.
The relationship between its central characters is the standout part of the film as their interactions are a lot of fun and their various stupid catchphrases did make me laugh a couple of times. Their constant use of superlatives in speech is especially amusing.
Alex Winter is pretty good and actually better than Keanu Reeves who has never been a good actor and it shows here as well. The characters are okay, but the acting could have been better. George Carlin, though, is the highlight as he’s quite funny and he did give a pretty charming performance.
So yes, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is an immensely charming movie at times, adventurous and mostly a passable diversion. However, the major reason why I found it just okay and never anything more than that lies in its simply terrible execution which ruined a film which otherwise had some strong blockbuster potential.
I am of course talking about its frenetic pacing and mediocre storytelling. The film is so quick and constantly moving around from one place and location to another that we never get to properly meet its historical figures and unfortunately the characters rarely get the chance to properly interact with any of the historical people.
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I also did not care for either Napoleon or Freud or any other historical characters as they were portrayed as too goofy and again thoroughly underutilized. The film also doesn’t look great with the special effects being solid for its time, but now dated, and the settings and the costumes leaving a lot to be desired. The soundtrack is also not my cup of tea and the film features an excessive use of music.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is an amusing, frequently even charming and at times funny comedy adventure flick with memorable character interactions and catchphrases, but it unfortunately squandered its solid premise entirely on terrible execution which is frenetic in pacing and thus the two protagonists never get to properly meet and interact with the various historical figures.
