Almost 30 years after Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter last teamed up as teenage best friends, wannabe rock stars, and goofball time travelers Theodore "Ted" Logan and William "Bill" S. Preston, Esq., they bring those most excellent characters back to the screen as middle-aged husbands and fathers still searching for the song that will unite the world. Their efforts have not met with much success. Their band Wyld Stallyns has long since slipped into oblivion, they haven't spoken to their bass player Death (William Sanderson) in decades, and they are reduced to playing cheap bars to indifferent patrons.
But even as their respective marriages are on the rocks, they have succeeded in one area: their daughters, Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Thea (Samara Weaving), are real chips off the old blocks: best friends, savvy music connoisseurs, and generous, optimistic, enthusiastic young women. So when The Future returns with a deadline—they have only 77 minutes to write and perform the song that will unite the world across time and save reality as we know it—their daughters embark on their own most excellent adventure to recruit the greatest musicians throughout time. There's also a killer robot, a marriage crisis, a return trip to Hell, and a reunion with Death who still holds a grudge over the breakup.
It's sweet and silly, with all the innocence and whimsy of the original films, and nary a cynical or sarcastic note in the entire journey. While their wives (Erinn Hayes and Jayma Mays) don't have much of a role in the narrative (even though they have their own time travel odyssey), daughters Thea and Billie are integral to saving the world and their fathers could not be more proud or supportive. There is admirable inclusiveness to this adventure and an embrace of and respect for music across genres and centuries.
Director Dean Parisot (who directed the affectionate cult comedy Galaxy Quest) embraces the spirit of the screenplay by creators Chris Matheson and Ed Soloman, who wrote the original big-screen Bill and Ted adventures. Kristen Schaal costars as the time travel emissary, Anthony Carrigan is the killer robot with an identity crisis, and Dave Grohl plays himself. Fans of the original films will approve and newcomers can also enjoy the goofy fun.
The DVD and Blu-ray release includes the cast and crew panel at ComicCon@Home (hosted virtually by Kevin Smith) and four very brief promotional featurettes. Recommended.