Ted 2

If you're a fan of the first Ted movie you'll probably enjoy the second as well but I think everybody can pretty much agree the first one was a lot funnier. The performances are still decent with some laughs, the biggest problem is is the ho-hum story that isn't engaging. The freshness from the first movie is gone as well. All in all Ted 2 is a slightly fun little comedy if you enjoyed the first one just don't expect it to be as good.

The first Ted was a major surprise for me. I thought it looked stupid from the trailers, but when I saw it I couldn't stop laughing. Having been a fan of Family Guy for a long time, I was not sure what to make of Seth MacFarlane's feature film debut. It was a success, so a sequel was bound to happen at some point.

When I first walked into Ted 2, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be funnier than the original, or just a waste of time. Well it was actually neither. What it is, though, is a subtle commentary on civil rights.

In the film, Ted (voice by Seth MacFarlane) is seen by the US government as nothing more than a piece of property. With the help of his thunder buddy John (Mark Wahlberg) and a young lawyer named Sam (Amanda Seyfried), Ted goes to court to fight for his rights as a human being. This is the main plot point, but there are a few subplots thrown in, such as finding a sperm donor so Ted and his wife Tami can have a baby, and a return by creepy bear-o-phile Donny (Giovanni Rabisi).

I did not find myself laughing quite as much in this one as with the first. Some of the jokes were a bit predictable this time around, and some even seemed forced. Probably the highlight of the humor is a hysterical cameo which I will not divulge.

Bottom line, it has a good message to it if you like films with a moral, but if you're a fan of Seth MacFarlane who is hoping for nothing but non-stop laughs, then you may be a tad disappointed. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I'd say it's more worth a rental when the time comes. Not really anything to rush to the cinema for.

Ted 2 does exactly what it set out to do. It delivers a bunch of laughs built primarily on crude, in-your-face humor and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Seth MacFarlane proves once again that he has his finger firmly on the pulse of his target demographic because the theater was in stitches throughout most of the film. That being said, a comedy doesn't have to sacrifice cinema in order to deliver laughs. I think the first movie was a prime example of that, as it was a genuinely good movie in addition to being hilarious. Instead, MacFarlane turns this movie into a live-action version of Family Guy. The plot is choppy and it essentially feels like a series of random skits, pieced together to form the semblance of some over-arcing plot. It was easily worth watching because it was hilarious but I expected a quality film closer to that of the first one.

In 2012 when Seth Macfarlane's directorial debut was released, I, like many other people enjoyed it a lot. It was a basic film about a man and his senile teddy bear who would just smoke weed, swear a lot and hang out. That premise was enough to get us on board and it worked for a one off feature film. After the box office success it received a sequel was inevitable.. but how could a film with such a premise possibly do anything more to become a franchise? Well not only does Ted 2 ramp up the laughs, it also gives us a surprisingly strong plot and pulls it off well.

The basic premise is that Ted has married Tammi-Lynn from the first film, whereas John has divorced Lori. Following some marital problems, Ted decides to save his marriage with a baby, but in order to do this he has to prove that he is a person and not just property in the eyes of the law. Enter Sam L. Jackson (Amanda Seyfried) and yes as you would expect there are many references to the Hollywood star. I knew Mila Kunis was not coming back for this film and after her performance in the lacklustre 'A million ways to die in the West' i was not expecting Seyfried to be a good replacement, but she fits in with the cast very well. Just like the first film the chemistry between John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (Seth Macfarlane) is what makes the comedy work so well, you really believe you are watching two real life friends hang out, rather than Mark Wahlberg and a CGI teddy bear. The plot wasn't what made the first so enjoyable, it was their bond. Amanda Seyfried fits in with these two so well and as a trio they really mesh well together. She brings a lot of laughs to the table and I actually liked her character more than Mila Kunis'.

Whilst the plot is very good and holds up, the third act takes a bit of a plunge and almost copies the last act of the first film completely. Giovanni Risbi reprises his role as Donny and does exactly what he did originally, just for a slightly different reason. The film could have done without this to focus more on the human elements, even though it was hilarious to see Ninja turtle Raphael dance to 'I think we're alone now'. It almost felt like filler to make a longer movie. The small road trip segment to me was great, we got spoofs of both Planes, Trains and Automobiles and a great Jurassic Park spoof in the space of a couple of minutes. In fact the pop culture references from Rocky to Flash Gordon (Sam J Jones returns) were pretty great. I also loved the courtroom scenes, and even Morgan Freeman in an extended cameo provided us with a very good look at what human rights are all about.

What i wanted from this film was to laugh, which i did, a lot more than i expected to as well which is a bonus. Look out for a hysterical cameo from Liam Neeson. The 'is Ted a human' storyline felt like a bold and wonderful step forward and brings up way more questions about human rights than any Seth Macfarlane production should.. but not in a bad way at all. It focuses a lot less on the drugs and crude jokes, even though they are very much still there! But the way it was executed was just great. I wish the third act had stuck with it, but by the end if you are a fan of Seth Macfarlane's work such as Family Guy you will come out satisfied after plenty of laughs and a surprising amount of heart. Will we get a Ted 3? Most likely, but if it keeps up what Ted 2 did right then i just might be okay with that.

If there was a 6.5, I would give it. Because there was a lot to like in this movie. I like Mark Wahlberg. I like the bear. I like Amanda Seyfried. And there were a lot of good laughs in this movie. Good one-liners, and good recurring gags.

However, it just wasn't enough to make up for a horrible plot. The plot is lifted from "Miracle on 43rd Street." But it is not Christmas, Ted is not Santa. Somehow Ted does not rise to the mythical level of Santa, this is not a movie for kids. and the movie falls flat. Markie Mark is same as ever, and I do enjoy him. Kudos to Amanda Seyfried, who tries so hard to make the romance story line work. But I could never get past the fact that I was watching MW and AS and a wise-cracking stuffed bear. Some good laughs? Yes. A good story? Not even close.