The Thunder Buddies are Back

Directed and written by Seth MacFarlane (A Million Ways to Die in the West, Family Guy), Ted 2 is the sequel the the 2012 comedy hit. The film stars Mark Wahlberg (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Pain & Gain), Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia, Red Riding Hood), Jessica Barth (Ted, Family Guy) and Seth MacFarlane as the voice of Ted. 'Newlywed couple Ted and Tami-Lynn want to have a baby, but in order to qualify to be a parent, Ted will have to prove he's a person in a court of law'. I didn't quite understand the hype of Ted and found it just above average, will Ted 2 be more overkill from Hollywood?

You know what, Ted 2 isn't that bad of a movie - I really can't majorly fault it. However, its hard to call it an excellent movie too - its just a 'nothing movie' - not bad enough to call it terrible but not good enough to call it excellent.  However, I do believe it is a slight improvement on its predecessor. 

The main problem with Ted 2 is that its story sucks! I can see that there is a nice meaning underneath but come on, a story about trying to prove that a bear is human - that is ridiculous! However, the film did make you route for Ted and hope that it would be legalised. The story didn't really have much continuity, the whole legalising section/theme seemed to be dropped for about 20 minutes towards the end of the film when other characters came more into the spotlight. I just believe that Ted 2 could have been written better and even though I have to applaud it for being inventive, I think there is a fine like between inventive and stupid - Ted 2 sits on the stupid side. 

The comedic element for this film is present. I actually found this one a little funnier than the first which was borderline offensive at times. My favourite moment in the film was when Ted blows a piece of paper into Seyfried's mouth whilst she is talking and it gets stuck in her throat - this was hilarious and something I haven't seen in a comedy film! I also really liked the moment where the 3 main characters find the 'weed' field and the Jurassic Park theme tune plays - I thought this was genius and was a funny moment - the reactions of the characters were almost identical to the ones in Jurassic Park when they first saw the dinosaurs. Ted 2 definitely isn't short on laughs. However, I hate to say it but I feel that some scenes literally had nothing to do with the story and were just put there to make you laugh - afterwards you would be like 'that was completely irrelevant'. 

I thought that the acting was solid in the film too - I think Seth MacFarlane voices Ted brilliantly - I will never get over how a cute teddy bear can have a voice like that! Mark Wahlberg did seem a little bored at times but maybe that was because his character had just been through a divorce? The new entry to the bunch, Amanda Seyfried, managed to fill Mila Kunis' spot quite well - she provided a lot of jokes and the ones where she was compared to Gollum was especially hilarious! I also thought she was pretty good at playing a lawyer and could easily feature in a Legally Blonde type movie! However, Mila Kunis was missed in this film and I felt that the team behind this should have tried a little harder to keep her on board. The cameos were also brilliant - unlike in Entourage, Liam Neeson was great here and his little scene was very unnecessary but very funny! 

Ted 2 is a slight improvement on the first - it has more of a likability factor which may be down to its light-hearted but ridiculous plot. MacFarlane and Wahlberg are a great team but whether Wahlberg actually wants to be there is sometimes questionable. Seyfried does a solid job and Kunis is missed. Ted 2 is definitely not short on laughs but is full of unneeded and irrelevant moments. Did the thunder buddies need to return? Well they did and I'm glad. MacFarlane's best work to date (take that as you will). 

3.5 STARS

B-