Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

Sick Product of a Sick System

Redundant and unnecessary.

Brilliant and touching

The acting in this movie is really good.

Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves return as Bill S. Preston and Ted "Theodore" Logan. The plot for this sequel to the surprisingly good original film borrows from James Cameron's "The Terminator," with an evil overlord from the future, Joss Ackland, sending robot duplicates of Bill & Ted into the past to kill them before their band "Wyld Stallyns" becomes famous, which somehow changes the course of history against the evil tyrant. The main problem with this sequel is that it's not all that funny. You get the feeling that filmmakers decided to embrace the notion that bigger is better in an effort to conceal the fact that there really wasn't much of a story to tell here. However, the film is unpretentious and does manage to be likable despite it's vapidness. George Carlin returns as Rufus, William Sadler plays a very un-Ingmar Bergman version of Death, Pam Grier has a small role, and the excellent band Primus even appears in a concert scene.

The second but seemingly not the last entry in my second favourite time travel comedy film series, this is a most non-heinous sequel. It is not on quite the same level as the first film but the script by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon is nevertheless very funny and it is well directed by Peter Hewitt in his feature film debut. The second half is generally stronger than the first. I loved many of the designs in the film such as the Devil, Station (the two little ones more so than the one big one), the Easter Bunny, the Good Robot Usses, Heaven (clearly inspired by "A Matter of Life and Death") and Hell. The film's original title was "Bill & Ted Go to Hell" but it was changed at the insistence of the studio because of the (over)sensitivity concerning the use of the word "hell." However, I think that they made the right decision for the wrong reason as the film's actual title is catchier and more descriptive. Besides which, I don't think that they spend enough time in Hell to justify the original title.Five years (relatively speaking) after their jaunt through time to pass history, the lovable metalheads Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan have moved away from home and are gainfully employed at Pretzels and Cheese but their band Wyld Stallyns has yet to become to the musical force that will bring the world into perfect harmony. That said, they are poised for fame as they hired to play at the 4th Annual San Dimas Battle of the Bands. However, things are afoot in the future. In 2691, the decidedly fascist ex- gym teacher - is there any other kind? - De Nomolos has built evil robot versions of Bill and Ted and sends them back in time to the late 20th Century to kill our heroes. They are most triumphant in their mission and the dearly departed Bill and Ted spend some time as ghosts before being exorcised straight to Hell by Missy, the former's ex-stepmother and the latter's new stepmother. The boys must make their way through the afterlife and back to the temporal plane in order to prevent their fiancées - the Princess Babes Joanna and Elizabeth from Medieval England, which isn't really in Iowa - from being killed. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves are once again very entertaining as Bill and Ted. They also get some great material as the Evil Robot Usses who, since they have much the same personalities as the original versions, are oddly likable as murderous robots from the future go. While I was watching the film, it occurred to me that Evil Robot Usses would be a great name for a band. Someone obviously agreed with me as there is already a band with that every name on Facebook. Winter also plays Hell's manifestation of Bill's rather frightening looking grandmother Granny S. Preston, Esq.William Sadler is hilarious as the put-upon Death, who is astonished when he loses to the duo in a game for their immortal souls. Losing to Bill and Ted can't have done much for his self-esteem. Although he is initially not too pleased at the thought of being their lackey, he gradually grows rather fond of them and willingly helps them in their mission to defeat the Evil Robot Usses. Not many people can say that they have literally laughed in the face of Death but Bill and Ted do it several times. That's certainly something to boast about! One of my favourite little moments is when Death apologises to God for inflicting Bill and Ted on him. One would think that God would be a little aggrieved that they mugged three people in Heaven itself but he seems pretty cool with it, actually. Sadler also has a cameo as the Englishman who is seen watching Wyld Stallyn's first TV appearance with his wife and daughter, played by his actual wife and daughter. Joss Ackland, who later admitted that he thought the film was pretty rubbish, is good as the vaguely German-accented De Nomolos but he has barely ten minutes screen time even though he is technically the main villain. Still, he has more than George Carlin, who appears in a mere two scenes as Rufus but is nevertheless great in the role. Pam Grier has a fun cameo as Ms. Wardroe. The film also features nice appearances from Hal Lindon, Jr. as Captain Theodore Logan and Amy Stock-Poynton as Missy and makes excellent use of the considerable vocal talents of Frank Welker as the Devil, Station and the Easter Bunny. However, I have always thought that Matheson and Solomon missed a trick in the Heaven scenes in not briefly reuniting Bill and Ted with one of the personages of historical significance from the first film such as Socrates, Lincoln or Joan of Arc. The film's original ending, which was unfortunately not used, would have featured De Nomolos spending eternity in Hell with the Evil Robot Usses, whom he despises as he did too good a job in recreating Bill and Ted's personalities.Overall, this is a very enjoyable sequel. I am really looking forward to the recently (re-)announced "Bill & Ted 3", which has been in development hell for five or six years now but will hopefully see the light of day in 2017/8.

On paper, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey is a sequel that should work. The plot is not a complete retread of the first film and some of the script is actually pretty creative. Unfortunately, the film severely lacks in charm which is one of the main elements that made the first installment enjoyable.Reeve's and Winters do an excellent job of reprising their roles, but their dimwitted metalhead personalities become an over-reliant source for jokes which become more redundant than funny. On a side note, the addition of William Shatner as The Grim Reaper is a highlight of the film.Even though the film is attempting to actually be something different than the previous installment, it bites off way more than it can chew. A bunch of sci-fi elements are introduced including robots and part of the plot involves Bill & Ted dying and traveling to the afterlife. While it all should fit the absurd humor of the film, none of it flows together coherently and feels sloppy and scatterbrained. Their are a few funny bits scattered throughout, but a lot of it just dully drags along delivering little laughs. Bogus Journey had all the elements in place for it to be a good sequel, but it falls apart in it's execution losing it's charm and much of the humor along with it. It's not a terrible sequel, but one that's pretty forgettable and only worth watching if you are a hardcore fan of the first installment.

Bogus Journey opens in the year 2619, where Bill & Ted's music and philosophy has shaped society and everyone wears awful clothes made from sheets of foam. Clearly upset at being forced to dress in such a ridiculous fashion, evil fiend De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) creates robot doubles of the Bill and Ted and sends them back in time to kill the originals, which they do by chucking them off the Vasquez Rocks.Death, however, is only the beginning of the righteous dudes' bogus journey, which sees them travelling to hell and heaven, before returning to life to do battle with their metal doppelgängers and De Nomolos.With the news that there might be a third Bill & Ted movie just around the corner, I thought that now would be a good time to revisit Bogus Journey, which I remember not being very impressed with when it originally came out…Almost a quarter of a century later and my opinion hasn't changed: while not totally heinous, this sequel is is far from the excellent adventure that was the first movie. In an effort to go one better than before, Bogus Journey packs in as much craziness as possible, including robots, aliens, the Grim Reaper, visions of Heaven and Hell, and the Easter Bunny, but in doing so the film it loses what made the first film so great: heart. And Diane Franklin.The best thing about the whole film is Death, played by William Sadler, who provides the film with all of its funniest moments, including a neat homage to Ingmar Bergman's iconic art-house classic The Seventh Seal. But a creepy bald guy in a robe with a scythe playing Battleships and Twister simply ain't enough to carry an entire movie.5 out of 10, which I considered pushing up to 6 for Pam Grier and Kiss's cover of God Gave Rock And Roll To You, but… no Diane Franklin. Bogus!