बिल & टेड'स बोगस जरनी

One of the most underrated movies I've seen in a long time, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey is the second hilarious adventure of Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan, aka Wyld Stallyns. There are two ways to look at this film: First, you see dumb dialogue, far fetched plot, juvenile idea. OR.. You see brilliantly downplayed idiots who yet again find themselves in a situation too big for their brains. Throw a Bruce Willis or a Arnold Schwarzeneggar into this plot and it becomes a big blockbuster movie. Bill and Ted go into the story with the same level of sincerity, only it's Bill and Ted. This is a tricky fence to balance on, but when you watch the movie not as a throwaway screwball comedy, but as an adventure featuring two guys who have no business being in an adventure, it becomes so much more.

It was only on my second viewing, years later, that I realized two things about this movie: 1) I enjoyed it immensely, and 2) that because its execution is decidedly sharper than the premise itself warrants. I had laughed my way through the movie before it occurred to me to renew my initial protests--valleyspeak and loogies and airheadedness (even *good*-natured airheadedness) just aren't inherently funny, especially when drawn out to feature length. But though the movie's momentum does begin to sputter out towards the end, Reeves and Winter and Sadler (and Hal Landon Jr. in an unforgettable scene) display such a remarkable sense of comic timing throughout that even the more clumsily-scripted jokes (e.g. Ted failing to recognize a certain inhabitant of Hell) work as effortlessly as the witter ones (e.g. the challenge). And the teaming of Winter and Reeves clicks so well that the teaming of Bill and Ted (who spend only one scene separated in the entire movie, disaster if they're not well-matched) appears utterly unstrained.

(Side note: I found the first movie to be only sporadically entertaining--sightly different comic sensibilities there, it seems.)

I give it a 7.75. Surprisingly good fun.

Oh, come on, learn to have a little fun. When I was a kid, oh, this movie was Oscar-worthy to me. I thought it was absolutely hysterical. One of the best movies I had seen.

Now, it's a little stupid, but come on. If you enjoyed "Excellent Adventure", you should most likely have fun with "Bogus Journey". This was the movie before "Dude, where's my car?". Only this one is actually funny. Like I said, it's just a good time. It shouldn't be taken seriously and if you enjoyed the first one, you should like "Bogus Journey". It's just a funny movie with some memorable characters. For your enjoyment only, watch it, let go, and remember that it's a silly comedy. That's all.

7/10

William Sadler's portrayal of the grim reaper is quite possibly one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It is great to see his serious demeanor reduced to frustration and desperation when Bill and Ted challenge him. As the movie progresses he continuously falls on his face, making him seem like just another character as opposed to the image the grim reaper usually represents. One other great thing about this movie, I loved the song "God Gave Rock n' Roll to you" by KISS. This movie was most non non non non triumphant.

Who says sequels can't be as good as originals? This movie proves that that is not always true. It was well-written, more mature, and just out-and-out funnier than its predecessor. Alex Winter once again showed great comic timing as Bill, although the film was absolutely stolen by William Sadler as Death ("Don't overlook MY butt. I work out every day, and reaping burns a lot of calories"). Some may call it stupid humor, but that's not really the case; the funniest scenes in the movie - such as the Twister scene or "20 Questions" - are original, well-played, and just plain clever. We all know Keanu Reeves has never been known so much for his acting, but he's above his average here, and Winter, Sadler, and George Carlin are all great fun.

Certainly this film can't appeal to everyone. If the idea of, say, Death playing Battleship, Clue, and Twister doesn't seem funny to you, you probably won't like it (although you may want to lighten up a little). If it does, well then you'll probably agree with me on this: Bill & Ted rock!!!