Ted battles for his right to be considered a real person and not just property in this solid sequel from Seth MacFarlane
He’s cruder than your average bear but how low can an all-talking all-fighting stuffed toy go? Well, in one scene in this inevitable sequel from the warped brow of Seth MacFarlane, Ted and his thunder buddy for life Johnny Bennett (a reliably dumb and likeable Mark Wahlberg) get involved in a accident in a sperm bank which will either have you snorting popcorn kernels or looking away in sheer horror.
Depending on your view of MacFarlane’s brand of gleefully un-PC humour, it’s a wonderfully choreographed set piece will be the gross-out nadir or zenith in a movie full of gross out nadirs and zeniths.
Ted is essentially an extended riff on the Family Guy gag that yes, Brian is a talking dog who fits without question into the real world. Except that whereas Brian is at heart an urbane frustrated Capote, Ted is a seedy Boston jock. He likes to drink, he cusses and fights and he sucks heavily from the bong.
Ted 2 elaborates on that joke when the bear’s very right to liberty and freedom comes into question. Is he actually a person or just property? It leads to a courtroom ding dong with Ted represented by a novice pothead lawyer by the name of Samantha L Jackson, played with a glazed-eyed bemusement by Amanda Seyfried.
MacFarlane and co knock the comedy stuffing out of the little bear gone bad and there are some solid laughs, punctuated with random cartoon violence, industrial amounts of grass, and a relentless stream of pop and geek culture references. It all ends in a mass brawl at comic con in LA involving pretty much every sci-fi and fantasy character of the last 50 years.
Morgan Freeman sends himself up beautifully doing his man of gravitas and great wisdom act as Ted’s lawyer and there is a nice turn by Mad Men’s silver fox John Slattery as the legal eagle who wants to strip Ted of his civil rights and render him a non-person.
It's noisome stuff and MacFarlane, in the best tradition of freedom of speech and the American way, is an equal opportunity offender with his comedy targets. Just as with Family Guy, the bad taste gags may be wearing thin but Ted 2 is smarter than your average sequel.
Alan Corr
Click on the video links above to watch TEN's interviews with Mark Wahlberg, Amanda Seyfried, Seth MacFarlane and Jessica Barth
