Seth MacFarlane, the ‘Family Guy’ guy, has spread his wings past just doing animated TV shows. He’s made 2 feature films and in 2013 hosted the Academy Awards. Now the writer, actor, director and musician has just released the sequel to his 2012 surprise hit ‘Ted’ – a movie about a teddy bear that comes to life, but re-imagined as a stoner comedy rather than a delightful kids Christmas romp.
Mark Wahlberg is Johnny, a loveable bum and thunder buddy to Ted. The first film focused a lot on his fledging career and love life hanging in the balance due to his friendship with the offensive degenerate Ted. Now in the follow up – set 6 months post the completion of the first movie is Ted’s story, very heavily focused on the message of civil rights and recognition as he must prove in a court of law that he is a person and not a toy in order to have a child with his new bride, so immediately off the bat we have a much more linear and daresay preachy narrative.
This adversely affects the script and in turn, the jokes. There isn’t as much potential for the wacky and downright stupid scenes given to us in the first instalment, and the je ne sais quoi magic is all but lost. It feels like a long Family Guy episode, down to the random cutaway gags, and going for the full gross out comedy in lieu of thoughtful jokes. The story is clunky and doesn’t flow well, there’s no real ‘pay-off’ moment and the dialogue beats are noticeably off, where some scenes will end in complete silence that doesn’t show as funny on screen.. just awkward.
Ok, critique hats off for a minute, Ted 2 is a fun movie, Seth MacFarlane gets away with a style of politically incorrect entertainment that is refreshing in a world of ‘clean’ comedies, he’s also highly regarded enough that there’s a slew of celebrity cameos done right, an old Hollywood style opening credits that apparently he had to fight the producers for, which works and fits within Seth’s unique approach to storytelling.
Definitely not a film for kids, but it’ll unleash the kid in you! Just try to embrace this one for what it is, and chill out for the ride. There are a handful of standout scenes that are sure to get a laugh out of you, and that’ll do in a world where audiences are now desensitised to obnoxious or offensive comedy.
