Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey *** (1991, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler, George Carlin, Pam Grier, Joss Ackland) – Classic Movie Review 1639

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are back in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey as Bill Preston and Ted Logan, the impressively thick, rock-loving dudes of the well received 1989 Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Director Peter Hewitt’s equally silly 1991 sequel sees them confront a pair of 25th-century homicidal androids and this time meet the Grim Reaper (William Sadler) in a funny parody of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, De Nomolos (Joss Ackland), the Dark Figure (Anthony G Schmidt), Thomas Edison (Hal Landon Sr), Bach (Robert Noble), Benjamin Franklin (Don Forney), Confucius (Tad Horino) and Albert Einstein (John Ehrin).

A would-be conqueror threatens to send evil Bill & Ted robots back to kill their good counterparts. Finding themselves dead, the duo must outwit the Grim Reaper and traverse Heaven and Hell to return to the land of the living, rescue their babes and enjoy a most triumphant concert at the Battle of the Bands. 

Cue 100 minutes of undiluted daftness in this harmless numbskull comedy that’s slightly less funny than last time, because returning writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon’s screenplay is running out of new amusing California-speak. But it’s still fairly inventive, there still are plenty of idiot gags and dumb laughs, and the two exuberantly overacted central performances are just as fun and iconic as before.

George Carlin (back as Rufus), Pam Grier (Ms Wardroe) and J Patrick McNamara (back as Mr Preston) are also in the cast. The 27-year-old Reeves and the 26-year-old Winter are now way too old to be at school but they still don’t really look it and certainly don’t act it. There has been talk for years about a second sequel, but so far it hasn’t emerged.

However, the long-awaited third Bill & Ted film is taking shape in March 2019, as William Sadler is set to join Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in the reunion film that follows the events of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.

Reeves celebrated his 50th birthday on 2 September 2014.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1639

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