Sequel Baiting #8 - Bill & Ted - Excellent Adventure vs Bogus Journey

We’re going back a bit for this one, Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves star as Bill and Ted. At their heart, they’re goofy comedies about 2 dim-witted boys who need to accomplish an objective with some involvement of time travel. They’re not meant to be taken seriously, but they still hold value as movies. But which of the two Bill and Ted movies is the better one. If you believe the critics and the box office you’d believe the first one, but I propose we put ‘em against each other.

But I can only come up with 5 categories, so the bonus point is dropped for this one, I know that might be upsetting but I have what I can work with. Let’s take a look at the Bill and Ted films.

Storytelling

Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are not very smart, but in the future, their music leads to a society of world peace on prosperity (just go with it) so when they face a difficult history report that could determine their fates, it’s up to the future agent Rufus (George Carlin) to travel back and give them a time machine so they can study history first hand. Their report is how historical figures would react to San Demas, their hometown (that is such a bullsh*t report to) so they bring historical figures to the present and let them experience it so they can feedback.

The sequel is a bit more story focused, with the Battle of the Bands looming for Bill and Ted, the evil despot named Chuck (Josh Ackland) send evil robot duplicates of Bill and Ted back in time to kill the real Bill and Ted and sabotage their performance in the Battle of the Bands. Bill and Ted must find a way to warn the others of their duplicates, come back to life and defeat them. The movies are both dumb in both concept and execution but they’re both pretty charming. Both the plots are excuses for set-pieces and introducing characters for some new comedic dialogue. That said, I feel narrative of the sequel flows better as a series of consecutive events, whilst the first is more a glorified fetch quest. Neither bad but for my taste, point to the second.

Excellent Adventure: 0

Bogus Journey: 1

Design

Bill and Ted visit a series of places in history in the first one. The first time is during the Napoleonic war, which uses stock footage which doesn’t blend seamlessly with everything else. Their second place is a small western town where Billy the Kid just happens to be, there’s a definite air of cheapness about the exterior set design, but it’s serviceable as it’s inside the saloon where the action happens. Next, we have the ancient Greek bit where they meet Socrates, which looks serviceable. The medieval castle reminded me of something off Doctor Who, painted walls kind of killed the illusion there, but it was well decorated. The places where they meet other historical figures are barely utilised so I’m ignoring them. They do a good job showing off the life of San Demas, showing the bowling alley, the mall, the water park and the school.

The Bogus journey opens up different concepts so they can be more creative with set design. The design of hell with the rocks and the dragon head chains looks really cool, the labyrinth houses some very surreal set designs, heaven looks just as awe inspiring and white as it should be. The concert hall basically reminds me of the school theatre they used in the first movie. Bill and Ted’s house looks good, even the Grim Reaper’s layer, cheap as it was, has a menacing feel to it. The second one had the opportunity to have some more creative sets, and character designs, I’m giving the point to the second.

Excellent Adventure: 0

Bogus Journey: 2

Character

We need to talk about Bill and Ted. They’re stupid but not completely unaware of the world around them so they stop just short of becoming irritating. Whilst they don’t initially believe in the power they have with Time Travel, their idea is OK and ultimately it pans out. I like their use of small time tricks in order to serve their needs. Whilst them growing a little smarter is the arc of the first movie, I haven’t got a clue what their arc is in the second. Yes, they have to face their fears in the Labyrinth but Bill is scared of kisses from his Nan, Ted is scared of an Easter bunny Toy (apparently revolving around him stealing an Easter egg as a kid or something) and they’re both scared of the paedophilic general in the Military school in Alaska. Seriously if he gets any closer to those two, I’m calling child’s services and I don’t care how old they are! Sorry, point to the original.

Excellent Adventure 1

Bogus Journey 2

Side Characters

Both the Bill and Ted movies have a lot of side characters. The first one especially so as it carries Bill’s step-mother Missy and his father, Ted’s father, the guy who wants to send him to military school, his brother and his friends. Then of course we have all the important historical figures, Napoleon, Billy the Kid, Socrates, Sigmund Freud, Beethoven, Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln and Genghis Khan. Unfortunately, if you do see any personality from them it’s relatively one-note and uninteresting, and generally relates to what they’re historically famous for. Sure, it leads to some comedic potential but that’s a different discussion.

Bogus Journey gives us the princesses who were introduced in the last one but not really utilised, they’re largely not utilised in this one either but at least they have something to do that’s relevant to the plot. We also have the Grim Reaper who is by far the best character in the series. He’s snarky, but having lost not once but thrice to Bill and Ted, he’s their servant for some reason and has to do whatever they want. It’s a bit weird but I love this character, even if they don’t always use him to his comedic potential. Missy and the fathers are all back, although Ted’s father from the first one is now Missy’s wife which ultimately changes nothing, and he doesn’t have a major role this time. We have general paedophile from the Alaskan military school and of course we have Station, the alien (yes, there’s aliens in Bill and Ted 2, nothing’s off-limits for this series) who is 2 beings who can fuse like gems in Steven Universe. Oh and of course we have evil Bill and evil Ted, the robot duplicates that have the right balance of Bill and Ted-like personalities with their eviller selves. With the characters a bit more abstract they’re able to give them a bit more personality, and each have a specific use to the plot. I’m giving this one to the sequel

Excellent Adventure 1

Bogus Journey 3

So, Bogus Journey has won, but I’ve got one more topic to cover

Comedy

Excellent Adventure relies largely on comic set-pieces, and to be fair they usually work, the saloon fight is funny, their playing about in the ‘medieval castle’ was good, Napoleon in the water park was funny, the historical figures in the mall got a chuckle. Bill and Ted’s use of time-travel hi-jinks was also a clever and funny ploy. They characters play off each other and the environment quite well, although obviously not exactly historically accurate.

Giving Bill and Ted antagonists to fight against is great for raising stakes but their lack of interaction means it stifles a lot of comedic potential. Still, it was interesting to see them win a game of wits using time travel shenanigans. Death does provide a few good jokes but I feel there was a lot missed opportunity with him and how he views certain situations, although seeing him in a dress is hilarious. Bill and Ted responding to being dead and how they try and work around it is really funny.

When it comes to comedy, it’s hard to pull these two apart, but I feel the second one misses a lot of potential and for that reason, I’m giving the point to the first one, not that it matters since Bogus Journey wins anyway

Excellent Adventure 2

Bogus Journey 3

Conclusion

Both Bill and Ted films are charming and amusing films with ludicrous concepts that they fully embrace. With the more expansive story and setting, the second one marginally wins out over the first. Hearing that the films helped Alex Winter through a tough period in his life only makes me more pleased these films exist. Although Keanu Reeves got his big break with the Matrix, Alex Winter went onto having a more behind the scenes presence, he was involved in both the live action Ben 10 movies. I think I’ll have to cover those at some point but not as sequel baiting since that’s coming to a close soon.