By The Riff Report – Where time travel’s optional, but air guitars are mandatory
🕶️ From Excellent to Bogus… and Still Brilliant?
If Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was like chugging SunnyD while cramming for history class, then Bogus Journey is its goth cousin who discovered death metal and philosophy.
Gone are the historical hijinks and phone booth tours. This time, our favourite Wyld Stallyns are fighting evil robot versions of themselves, getting murdered, playing Twister with the Grim Reaper, and literally going to Hell. Yep. 🤘🔥
And somehow… it STILL rocks.
🎭 The Plot: BOGUS with a capital B
The year is… well, who cares. Bill and Ted are just trying to get their band off the ground, win the Battle of the Bands, and not screw up their destiny to unite the world through music. Casual.
But Evil Bill and Evil Ted, robot doppelgängers sent from the future, show up and absolutely ruin their day by throwing them off a cliff and stealing their lives. As you do.
Now dead, our heroes have to:
- Beat Death at board games (best scene ever),
- Escape both Hell and Heaven (while causing mayhem in both),
- Build robot good-guy versions of themselves (with help from a Martian genius called Station – don’t ask),
- And rock the Battle of the Bands to save the world.
It’s like Wayne’s World if it was directed by Tim Burton after eating dodgy mushrooms. 🍄
💀 MVP: Death (No, Really)
Let’s just say it – William Sadler’s Grim Reaper absolutely steals the film. He’s creepy. He’s clingy. He’s petty. And he’s downright hilarious.
“You might be a king or a little street sweeper,
But sooner or later, you dance with the Reaper.” ☠️
He goes from cosmic stalker to full-blown bandmate, playing bongos and throwing hissy fits. A proper scene-stealer and the spiritual goth dad of the movie.
🤘 Rock ‘n’ Roll Chaos Checklist:
- 🎸 Evil Robot Us-es that act like drunk Roombas with knives
- 🎤 A Battle of the Bands hosted by Primus (yes, really)
- 🧠 Existential crises, ghost possessions, and heaven-sent Martian twins
- 🎮 Death being absolutely rubbish at Clue, Battleship, and Twister
- 🪦 Satan, seances, and some truly trippy production design
This film is less time-travel, more acid trip – and that’s not a complaint.
🧠 Is It Deep? Nah. Is It Fun? HELL YES.
Bogus Journey doesn’t try to be clever. It tries to be mad. And it succeeds. It’s the cinematic equivalent of dropping your amp in the bathtub – shocking, stupid, and somehow… electrifying.
You can feel the filmmakers going, “What if we KILL the main characters 20 minutes in?” and just running with it. That kind of boldness? Respect, butt.
🎤 Final Riff
It shouldn’t work. It makes less sense than a Slayer song played backwards. But Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is underrated, unpredictable, and undeniably fun. It’s a sequel that ditches the safe route, cranks the weird up to 11, and still leaves you shouting “STATION!!” in the middle of Tesco for no reason.
🤘 Riff Report Rating:
4.5/5 Melodic Martians 🛸🛸🛸🛸🌓
+1 bonus point if you’ve ever challenged someone to Twister and said, “I grow tired of this game…”
So remember, rockers:
You can’t cheat death… unless you bring board games.
And above all…
Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
#BogusJourney #BillAndTed #RiffReportReviews #Station #GrimReaperForTheWin #MetalMartianMadness
