Ted 2 (2015)

When Ted 2 first came out everybody was saying pretty much the same thing. It is not as good as the first one, which most people seemed to dislike anyways. Pretty much every review I read, or every person I talked to had negative things to say about the movie. It honestly made me worried and lead to me putting off seeing it. I saw the first Ted with my wife during a trip of ours. I had no real expectations for it as I am normally not a Seth Macfarlane fan. Family guy is unwatchable to me, but I did enjoy the Cleaveland show. So I figured why not give the funny little teddy bear a chance? I loved it, it was not the best comedy I have ever seen, but it was consistently entertaining to me. Mark Wahlberg was hilarious and was perfect in his role as John the guy who brought Ted to life. Mila Kunis was a lot of fun and seeing her awkwardly trying to play off of John and Ted was one of the highlights of the movie. The three had a good chemistry and the movie was better for it. In ted 2 however Kunis was pregnant and ended up dropping out of the project. We instead get Amanda Seyfried who I am biased towards, so I had no issues with that. But it did created a odd moment in which the first movie seemed to almost not matter any more. The entire point of that film was John growing up and him and Ted finding a way to stay friends while he made the important relationship in his life work. It ended with the three of them in a good place. For this movie to get rid of her role created a pretty big issue. We don't see the destruction of that relationship, we are just told John did not like the changed he made and decided he wanted to go back to who he was so they split up. I understand why she could not do the film, but it made it feel almost like I was watching Ted 3. As if I missed a movie in between.

Ted 2 starts with Ted and his girlfriend from the previous film Tammy-Lynn getting married. It is also here we are told that John is now single and has been for awhile. The movie then skips forward 6 months and Ted and Tammy-Lynn are having marital issues and decide the best way to save the relationship is to have a baby. If you remember Ted has no ability to reproduce as he is a stuffed animal, so they decide to adopt. Ted is deemed to be property and not a person so they are denied a child. This begins a downward spiral as his status comes into question over and over again and his marriage is annulled, he is fired as he can not legally be hired and so forth. The movie revolves around the concept of what makes one a person, and if a stuffed animal is able to fill that role. John being Teds best friend decides to help him and they enlist Amanda Seyfried's character Samantha as their lawyer. There is a romance subplot with John and Samantha, but for this film Ted is the staring role. We see him struggle with the decision that he is simply property and question his importance. It was actually a pretty fascinating concept to me. He is a toy after all, he was bought at a store. Does magic giving him cognitive abilities make him a person? My wife said no, which actually surprised me. I was 100% on board with Ted being a person. So I asked if she would compromise and say he was at last a animal and she once again said no. I jokingly called her a rude name and we laughed and continued on. That is actually a pretty good representation of the movie in a way. There is a serious moment that tries to make you think, then a crude joke to take you out of the moment before they try to go back on their way. It makes it hard to concentrate on some of the scenes that could have easily been stronger by dropping the comedy for a moment.

The jokes in Ted 2 are largely like the first. Foul Language, sexual humor, and drug references. It works for them, and it had me cracking a smile the entire time. Some lines are better then others, and the instagram feud between Ted and John accompanied by the corny hashtags was a favorite of mine. The "Can you help me get home" strain of marijuana had me on the verge of tears the few times it made a appearance. Ted 2 seemed to hit the comical mark more for me then the first one did. And I loved the little call backs to the first movie. While yes I would have preferred it to approach some of the scenes with a more serious tone, I really can't complain to much about what they gave me. The time flew by, I easily enjoyed it more then the first movie.

The acting is a odd thing to talk about here. It is not like this was a drama in any sense after all. Wahlberg was great, and he really seems to be taking to comedy in his last few roles. I would much rather see him in a movie like this then anything else right now. Seyfried was fun and she handled the jokes they gave her well enough. Her schtick being that she knew nothing pop culture related while hanging out with people who watch tv and movies all day really did work for me. The movie had a huge comic con portion, and she was golden throughout it. Calling Star Wars characters captain Kirk, not knowing what Lord of the Ring was. She killed that role, and hopefully if we do get a Ted 3 she can come back for it. The only role I didn't care for was Patrick Warburtons, but I don't think that was due to his acting but his lines. Though he did have a really cool moment that fans of his will love, so that was worth him being there regardless. Also Liam Neeson's gives comedy another try, and I love him for it.

Ted 2 has some trouble, but in the end it came off more enjoyable then the first venture. While I do wish Mila Kunis could have come back, Seyfried did very well with her role. I enjoyed her character and thought she fit in nicely with the boys. We get a serious story that deals with a interesting question, and the movie was better for it. If you liked the first Ted, you should find something to enjoy in this one as well. Both were great, but this one was simply better to me.


It is worth noting one of the best parts in the trailers was not in the final cut, the part where the car explodes and Ted and John lie about the people being fine. Hopefully that means we get some good extra content when the DVD drops.