The reviews for the two big releases in the United States today are now in and the reactions are starkly different.
First up, “Bill & Ted Face the Music” is scoring good reviews, currently sitting on an 81% (6.66/10) on Rotten Tomatoes and 66/100 on Metacritic which puts it in the same ballpark as “Tenet” (80%, 69/100). Here’s a sampling of quotes:
“Face the Music is clearly a passion project for the minds behind Bill & Ted, and it results in a sequel that coasts by on its goofy humor and heart.” – Sandy Schaefer, ScreenRant
“Its ramshackle earnestness, its certainty about nothing beyond the fact that we need to get our act together as human beings, is its great strength.” – Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine
“I don’t know if it made me feel young or old, but it was all in all a most non-bogus experience.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times
“The film suggests that Bill and Ted’s dreams of stardom, which have evolved into dreams of acceptance and expression, aren’t so stupid after all” – Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
Meanwhile 20th Century Studios’ final “X-Men” film, the teen spin-off “The New Mutants,” has pulled in dismal reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie sits at 18% (4.46/10) while on Metacritic it’s at 45/100.
The interesting thing here is that reviews aren’t as aggressively panning it in the way they were “Dark Phoenix,” here the common review sentiment is it’s more a middling misfire than a train wreck:
“Re-shot, re-cut and somehow rescued from total obscurity, Boone’s movie isn’t half bad. Alas, it’s not half good either.” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“It’s the kind of movie many fans will surely want to like, and while it lives up to that modest promise, it certainly doesn’t go above and beyond.” – Michael Nordine, TheWrap
“It’s a strange misfire, a dated and uninspiring comic book adaptation that feels like it was made in the early 1990s, not 2017.” – Sean O’Connell, CinemaBlend
“A plodding viewing experience, even with lowered expectations. It’s a better fit for television, as Boone is making a network pilot, not a big screen experience.” – Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com
Both films are in cinemas now with “Bill and Ted Face the Music” also available on PVOD platforms. Next weekend they will face off with “Tenet” in cinemas, “Mulan” on PVOD, and the launch of the second season of Amazon’s “The Boys” which has been drawing rave reviews (96% on RT) that suggest it’s better than the first season.
