Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
Article 5468 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-3-2017
Directed by Peter Hewitt
Featuring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler
Country: USA
What it is: Multi-genre comedy

A would-be dictator of the future sends a pair of robots into the past to kill off Bill and Ted and take their places at the Battle of the Bands. Can Bill and Ted return from the afterlife and set the path to the future on its correct course?

I never saw the first movie of the series until after I saw this one; there was something about the vibe of this one that drew me into the movie theater several times. They had a bigger budget this time out, and they upped the ante considerably by concocting a dizzy and bizarre plot that spans all three fantastic genres – science fiction (a future society, several robots, time travel, and an alien that can split into two beings), fantasy (the character of Death, a visit to heaven, and the Easter Bunny) and horror (part of the story takes place in hell, and there’s a seance as well). The supporting characters are a lot of fun this time as well; William Sadler is wonderful as Death, who desperately tries to hold on to his dignity while dealing with Bill and Ted but is eventually won over by them. Joss Ackland is also memorable as the villain of the piece, a gym teacher turned revolutionary named De Nomolos (spell each name backwards and compare to the list of writers). My favorite scene has Bill and Ted challenging Death to a game to win their right to return to the land of the living. This one is a personal favorite.