Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter's Wyld Stallyns are back for a third adventure in Bill & Ted Face the Music, but is it a welcome addition to the cult franchise?

Directed by Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest), this one finds the titular slackers in middle age, dealing with the prospect of humanity's annihilation. To save the world, Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves) must create a song in exactly 78 minutes with the help of their families, iconic musicians and old friends.

Related: Bill and Ted writers explain why they swapped sons for daughters in final Face the Music script

The first reviews have started coming through via Rotten Tomatoes at time of writing, it has a score of 79% and you can take a look at a few of them below:

IGN

"No mere exercise in Gen X nostalgia, Bill & Ted Face the Music manages to recapture both the spirit and energy of the earlier films while still acknowledging the clear passage of time. The movie doesn't avoid the characters' ages but instead shows that, even in their fifties, Bill and Ted are man-children who are hopelessly codependent on each other.

"They are platonic soulmates. Their navet may have waned a tad but they're still just immature and dopey enough to lack the necessary self-awareness."

The Hollywood Reporter

"Dean Parisot's Bill & Ted Face the Music is almost exactly as good as its two big-screen predecessors make of that statement what you will while cleaning up some, but not all, of the things that might make an old fan of those films cringe today. Despite a dicey opening, the pic should please those looking forward to it, and, with the addition of a new generation (the duo's daughters), attract a new fan or two as well."

United Artists/Orion Pictures

Related: Bill & Ted creators share incredible coincidence in casting of Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter

The AV Club

"The characters haven't changed much, but CGI technology definitely has. Bill & Ted Face The Music takes advantage of those improvements with a plethora of scenes set in the future and in Hell, both upgraded from relatively modest sets to epic green-screen environments.

"These are a welcome alternative to the utterly generic, cheap-looking suburban locations the characters otherwise occupy. But aside from the scene-stealing return of William Sadler, reprising his role as Death himself from Bogus Journey, the addition of characters from these fantasy realms doesn't bring all that much to the story."

The Wrap

"It's silly and occasionally a little slow, and it could use the kind of in-person audience that it won't get in these pandemic days. But if you felt any affection for Bill & Ted in the past, you'll feel it again here, because the movie rides on the same kind of goofy charm as its predecessors.

"Winter and Reeves, meanwhile, manage to make the years and the mileage show without losing that essential Billishness or Tediosity; maybe they weren't born to play these guys, but it's still a lot of fun when they do."

The Matrix's Keanu Reeves wanted Wolverine role

Collider

"There are moments when the pacing gets a bit slow and Bill and Ted fighting with their future selves get a little redundant. But there's no mistaking Face the Music for the previous two movies, especially as it reaches its lovely crescendo about the kind of future we not only leave to our children, but what those children give to us in return. Party on, dudes."

Bill & Ted Face the Music is now out in US cinemas and on VOD, while its UK cinema release date is currently September 23.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure [1989]

7.99

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey [1991]

3.49

Bill & Ted Omnibus

18.53

Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Movie Book: The Official Companion

14.95

Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Access this edition with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+.

Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Continue reading here:
Bill and Ted Face the Music reviews are in - digitalspy.com