A quintessential teen flick of the late
1980s, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure has gone from minor cult hit to
an adolescent staple, with an archetype that would be emulated by other famous
"stoner" teen duos like Wayne & Garth (from
Wayne's World) and Beavis &
Butthead. It's a formula that seemed to work well, as the dumb (but cute)
fun allows you to laugh with the comic duo rather than at them, with director
Stephen Herek (Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead,
Holy Man) never making the mistake of taking the characters, their
situations, or even the entirety of human history all that seriously.
Don't bother trying to bring in any logic or common sense into this adolescent
fantasy, and you'll probably be in the right frame of mind to enjoy the modest
humor and infectious geniality that the characters provide.
The setting of the film is San Dimas,
California, in 1988, where two high school-aged boys, Bill S. Preston, Esq.
(Winter, The Lost Boys), and
Ted "Theodore" Logan (Reeves, A Walk
in the Clouds) are on the verge of flunking out of school. Their
last hope of academic survival is their upcoming oral presentation in History,
which they only have a couple of days to prepare for -- they both need an "A+".
It's at this critical moment in their lives that they are visited by a man
called Rufus, along with themselves from the near future, declaring that they
are about to go on a wild, time-hopping adventure through history in order to
gain first-hand knowledge to help them on the test. You see, the future
civilization is built around the music made by the two young men in their band
called Wyld Stallyns, which has brought forth an era of peace, harmony, and
tranquility to future generations. Using a phone booth as a means of
transportation, Bill and Ted visit various eras, picking up persons of
historical significance (Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Socrates, etc.) in order to
not only pass their test, but also to make the world a better place for the
Earth's progeny.
I probably won't be going out on a limb by
stating that one's enjoyment of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure will
probably come down to the age, mentality, and current mood of the viewer who
sees it, as this is primarily a film aimed at young adults, with additional
appeal to kids and some adults who also enjoy films aimed at younger viewers.
It's not the sort of film that will have you bowled over with laughter, but it
is one that might actually make you smile now and then, and in between, it has a
pleasant delivery and likeable enough performances for it to at least pass as an
amiable time-killer.
While some might complain that this sort of
movie is indicative of the dumbing down of teen films that occurred during this
time period, it can be argued that this actually has the opposite effect. It makes
World History
seem like fun, with characters we can all relate to (mostly because they come
down to our level within the film). Most of the characters play to
certain stereotypes and well-known personality traits, but given that nearly
everything else about the film resides on the surface level, it's disingenuous
to expect the real-life historical counterparts to appear, rather than the
idealized, cartoonish representations that those viewers with only a passing familiarity with them might know. To the film's
credit, the supporting cast of kooky characters is excellent (and not just in
the slang usage of the term used by Bill & Ted), with some choice rock allusions
and smaller roles for E Street Band sax player Clarence Clemons, Go-Go's
guitarist Jane Wiedlin, and a few other cameos.
One of the sub-themes of the film seems to suggest that History is fun,
but reading -- not so much. Bill and Ted traverse to the library
upon having to gather information, but they're generally clueless
about what to do, and it's just not the way they prefer to learn.
Their basis of knowledge comes from experience and hearing about
things, so it's only natural that their conveyance through history
comes from a phone booth (an obvious node to another time-travelling
property, "Doctor Who") which uses a TV antenna to operate (television
being the replacement for books for storytelling and information in
the era); the phone in the 1980s is where many teens hear gossip and
connect to one another. If they're going to have to find out
about history, it's going to have to be directly from the historical
figures themselves, in order to make the world a utopia that doesn't
involve books, but of listening to music (their music) and just being
righteous dudes who are excellent top one another.
Watching it nowadays, it's one of those
movies that one might, based on outward appearances, be tagged as being too
dated for today's audiences, but I think in this case, the datedness works in
its favor (with the exception of one moment where Bill and Ted share a
homophobic reaction to finding themselves in each other's embrace.) Like many other teen comedies of the 1980s, there is a sense of
innocent fun and adventure that comes without high overhead, and also without
pretense on being anything more than a film meant for entertainment only.
As such, it will never be embraced by the film snobs, but, as something to
entertain the young and old alike, while it may not be a home run with everyone, it will almost certainly be a hit. You won't have to head out to the Waterloop to experience a fun ride -- it's all right here in this compact
90-minute most triumphant adventure.
-- Followed by Bill & Ted's Bogus
Journey in 1991. Also followed by a television cartoon series from
1990-1991, and a short-lived live-action TV series in 1992.
