There's a slight claustrophobic quality to some of the filmmaking-- like the budget limited the movie to a lot of interiors and some creative use of affordable CGI.
Apart from that, I was smiling the whole goddamn time and laughing quite a bit. Some of that laughter was more about the welcoming reliability of Bill and Ted, and that what makes them reliable is their fundamental authenticity and sweetheartedness (they express exactly how they feel and tend to hate liars most of all). Other laughs come from how these movies have the good habit of taking an already-fine comic premise and twisting it in a new direction, e.g. you'll most likely enjoy how the film develops its future-shock killbot and a displaced Kid Cudi. Also, the flick packs a lot of story into its efficient 90 minutes, allowing for what's simultaneously an It's a Wonderful Life riff (the boys travel to the future and see different stages and permutations of themselves) and a remix of the prior two films (quests for historical figures and hellbound souls), so that you're never far away from a new approach to the familiar warmth and chuckles that the series has always provided.
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Just extremely happy that this turned out well.
I've been really excited for this.
Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves are excellent, totally earnest and fun. The rest of the movie didn’t do much for me, and I definitely didn’t laugh as much as I have with the other films.
That’s not to say its a horrible movie though- this feels like its part of the series and does about what I expected it to. I just wish it had more bite and humor to it. []
Rewatching it-- might as well use the $20 rental!-- and just caught a very funny little joke.
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Another thing. I would've been fine with another 2 minutes in the film that we would spend with the Princesses. Maybe that'd be too many spinning plates in a 90 minute movie, but I think they could've woven in a bit more solo time with the ladies.
Sorry, more clever touches:
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I would say I can't believe this movie made me shed tears (of joy, for the record) but, hey, it's 2020, nothing surprises me anymore.
Last 11 things I really enjoyed:
Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
Safe (Haynes, 1995)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
Diva (Beineix, 1981)
Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
It's all connected, Rich.
Like the earlier films, surprisingly enjoyable and charming for what it is, but also fairly loose and shaggy, kind of bumbling around in various directions (the subplot with the princesses on their own time-traveling adventure goes nowhere) and never really excelling. And like Bogus Journey, I appreciate the effort to mix things up the most (having Bill and Ted face their own disappointing legacy is a wonderful twist, and the final scene with their future selves is hilariously touching and actually worked for me) but pretty much lose interest when it's just remixing prior elements (another trip to Hell, and meeting Death again, just feels perfunctory). Also wish they had handled some scenes with smaller sets, like in the earlier films, and not the massive CGI backdrops with actors blatantly walking around in front of a green screen; it's one of the few ways this is unlike its predecessors and I didn't really care for it.
A mild yay, for its sincerity and sweetness.
Giving up in 2020. Who cares.
maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (Sky Hopinka) ***½
Without Remorse (Stefano Sollima) *½
The Marksman (Robert Lorenz) **
Beckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino) *½
Night Hunter (David Raymond) *
I enjoyed this a lot.
Similar to what others have said, it gets extra points for how sweet and earnest it is.
The couples therapy scene was fantastic.
The British accents scene...not so much.
There are a few misses, but way more hits.
Their daughters are just as sweet and charismatic as them.
A fun, feel good time.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
The first one is still the best, however this one was a lot of fun and definitely better than the second flick, which I still liked. I wouldn't mind a spinoff with the two daughters.
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up