Bill And Peter S Bogus Journey Torrent
Cherly Fleitas
There were parts of "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" Iprobably didn't understand, but that's all right, because there were even moreparts that Bill and Ted didn't understand. This is a movie that thrives on thedense-witted idiocy of its characters, two teenage dudes who go on amazing journeysthrough time and space with only the dimmest perception that they are not stillplaying video games.
I missed the enormously popular movie that introduced these characters,"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," and felt myself blessed atthe time. But now I'm not so sure. Their "Bogus Journey" is a riot ofvisual invention and weird humor that works on its chosen sub-moronic level,and on several others as well, including some fairly sophisticated ones. It'sthe kind of movie where you start out snickering in spite of yourself, and endup actually admiring the originality that went into creating this hallucinatoryslapstick.
The movie begins far in the future, where students at Bill & Ted'sUniversity have the opportunity to chat personally with Thomas Edison andBeethoven, and to study such artistic classics as the "Star Trek" TVseries. An evil overlord of time, named De Nomolos and played by thatgravel-voiced, white-haired villain Joss Ackland, vows to rewrite history bydestroying Bill and Ted (played as before by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves). Hehas invented robots that look and act exactly like the two heroes, and are justas dumb, and he sends them rocketing back through time in a telephone booth.
Bill and Ted are meanwhile trying to win a rock band contest with their owngroup, the Wyld Stallyons, which includes a couple of girl musicians theypicked up in the 15th century. Startled by the appearance of theirrobot-doubles, they commence their own journeys through time and space in a desperateattempt to destroy them, save themselves, preserve the book of history, staycool, and meet cute chicks.
The funniest thing that happens to them is their showdown with the Grim Reaper(William Sadler), who looks just as he does in Ingmar Bergman's "TheSeventh Seal." In that film (as most of the audience for this one willprobably not know), Death played chess with a medieval knight, with theknight's soul at stake. This time the dudes challenge the Reaper to a pocketvideo game, and beat him, even after he tries to weasel out with an offer ofbest of three.
Death, having lost, has to accompany Bill and Ted on their journey and do whatthey tell him, and this leads to some of the funniest moments I have seen inany movie in a long time, including one where the Reaper does a littlecomparison shopping for scythes at the hardware store.
One of the stops on the bogus journey is Heaven, created with great imaginationand a lot of light and echoing sound effects and a most peculiar conversationwith the Deity. Bill ands Ted handle this summit meeting, as they handleeverything else in the film, like two dudes for whom "Pee Wee'sPlayhouse" would be too slow and intellectual.
All of the actors (including George Carlin, who turns up in an importantsupporting role) have a lot of fun with this material, and it turns into moredelicate fun, based on more subtle timing, than you might imagine. Many ofSadler's laughs as the Grim Reaper come from simple physical cringing, as heconveys his embarrassment and lost dignity.