Director: Seth MacFarlane
By Alex Watson
Although Seth MacFarlane tries his hardest to recreate the same volume of belly laughs as the original, Ted 2 just doesn't hit the same heights as before. This off-the-wall buddy vehicle still has its charms, but feels a little overly long for what it needs to be. At the centre, the concept is a simple and effective one. A toy bear wants love and to be recognized as human but is denied on both counts. This idea sadly just isn't enough to sustain interest for an entire movie. Despite its best efforts, Macfarlane seems to rely too heavily on the potty mouth humour.
One year on from events from the previous movie, Ted (Seth MacFarlane) has married his sweetheart Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) while John's (Mark Wahlberg) marriage has ended in divorce. Immediately the newlyweds are on the rocks and propose having a child to safe their marriage. But any attempts at adopting a child are denied because Ted is not legally recognized as a person by the government. To help gain his rights, the pair enlist the help of newbie lawyer Samantha L Jackson (Amanda Seyfried) to aid their cause.
Ted 2 does have its merits and to MacFarlane's credit he does address some important character issues. John is still recovering from his marriage being dissolved and has little else to do other than smoke pot with his friend. The pair are like a couple of highschoolers still stuck in a time warp. Ted maybe fighting for his rights, but the question remains has he done enough the truly earn them? Watching them head for trial is one area where the movie falls down because although there are laughs such as the pair watching the whipping scene in TV's Roots and Ted saying "That's just like me!" but otherwise it just feels misguided. Ted is like the relative at dinner whom you always wince whenever he talks. Watching him on the stand has that effect as he angrily bursts at the judge "This is just like what you did to the fags!"
The introduction of fellow pot smoking lawyer Samantha is a nice touch but doesn't really add anything new to proceedings. She is basically the polar opposite of everything John's ex wasn't and smokes from a bong shaped like a penis. On a humour level, MacFarlane does provide his usual brand of borderline shocking humour. One scene the gang decides the only way to cheer themselves up is to make sad suggestions at an improv show. Here we get Charlie Hebdo, Robin Williams and 9/11 thrown into the mix, judge for yourself whether to laugh. Also we see re-emergence the of creepy teddy stalker Donny (Giovanni Ribisi- doing what he does best).
Funny cameos also succeed in injecting the film with the zany humor it needs. Watch for a great appearance by Liam Neeson, who could have thought Trix cereal could be hilarious? Tom Brady also stands out in a brief but sidesplitting cameo. Worth its weight purely for code the Boston Police have for the crime. Morgan Freeman plays.... well Morgan Freeman renamed. As a franchise, this movie is most likely going in the right direction and a successful run at the box will definitely see a third round. But Seth MacFarlane has to really think hard about the direction he wants to take this. Because laughs aside, this comedy series is already showing signs of fatigue. Ted and John despite being bad boy 'thunder buddy's' have little else aside of their debauchery. With a few workings, the next installment could be more fitting.
Mark Wahlberg does succeed as John and with his native Boston wit, he handles the foul and crude humor with ease. There may be many people on the fence about the former Marky Mark, but you cannot deny he has presence. Wahlberg is one of the principle reasons this movie has its charm and this guy loves to poke fun at his roots. Seth MacFarlane as a voice only still bounces off his counterpart well. Sounding almost like Family Guy's Peter Griffin, Ted may be an awkward cuddly toy, but is still one who can deliver the laughs.
Chances are that Ted will be definitely be back for a third installment. It's just a shame that Ted 2 doesn't quite build on the promise of what could have been.
No comments:
Post a Comment