BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (1989) *** Save the babes from marrying the royal ugly dudes! This remains the only film in history in which you can witness Socrates calling Freud a "geek," thrill to Napoleon going down a giant waterslide, watch Beethoven draw a crowd of headbangers on multiboard synthesizers, see Genghis Khan thrash a sporting goods store, check out Joan of Arc doing aerobics...surely only a fine culture could produce such diversions! Of course it's also true that when our historical luminaries touch down in late 20th century California they're promptly arrested. You can go on about lack of character development (particularly in the pubescent psychological sense), superficiality of plot line, amateurish thespianism...none of that stuff ultimately matters, does it? When compared to fun and Keanu Reeves' big smiles, I mean. A lot of it rings true-the divorcee who marries a girl straight out of high school, the speech of the student comparing Marie Antoinette to Reaganomics, the wild west tavern that serves minors, and truly strange things really are always afoot at Circle K. And yes, I believe that the foundation for a superior society of the future, where war and poverty are wiped out and man communes with animals and aliens, can only be built on the foundation of power chord guitar. Wyld Stallyns rule!
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