Year: 2015
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Screenplay: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild
Synopsis is here
This potent independent article helped gather some thoughts
on Ted 2, the intermittently funny, yet still unnecessary sequel to Seth
MacFarlane 2012 hit. Seth wants to have his cake and eat it. Ted plays fast and
loose with jokes about black cocks and white niggas and yet the film gives pays
little lip service to black people. Yet ted 2 is a film which is about civil
rights… to a point. Really Seth wants to be able to make crummy race jokes while
still giving the wink that he's a card carrying liberal. Ted the CGI bear
wishes to be considered a human and have his surname called Clubberlang. Here, however
These days any flaw or dislike in a un-P. C piece of media,
instantly considers the viewer as over sensitive. You can't have class if you
don't like crass . But despite a favourable view of the previous entry and an
admirer of MacFarlane’s animated work, my disinterest in Ted 2 is more down to
the fact that that Ted 2’s humour feels thinly spread this time round. Gags
feel well-worn and lacking in any type of growth. Much like The Hangover
franchise. Ted 2 never feels like the shot in the arm that the first entry
gave. It feels like a stale re-tread.
It's no surprise that American Dad has grown from strength
to strength out of all Seth’s creations. As it favours less of the oblique
randomness that litters Family Guy and Ted. In both Ted 2 and his previous film
A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), Seth has pushed even further towards
random non sequiturs with none of the Monty Python flair.
But even Family Guy gains more favour due to its ability to
lean on its animation. It shouldn’t be said, but the series can have more fun because
it’s a cartoon. It’s become more apparent that MacFarlane has a style that he
wishes to stick with. This was fine when Ted was viewed as a one shot. A random
series of connected vignettes tied by character and crassness. However, this
second time round delivers Ted has less of a rouge and more of an asshole. The
jokes that miss are, once again, even more targeted to those with a working knowledge of
current American pop culture that’s off the beaten track. This mostly leaves
Ted making dick jokes, but lacking with the fairy tale element which caused
much of the amusement from before. In addition to this, Wahlberg has less to
do. Seyfried is coasting in a drab role and while MacFarlane still doesn’t get
enough praise for his vocal ability, Ted is far less lovable this time round.
Once the first film became a hit, you can see what little earnestness there
was, leave Ted and anything connected to it due to money.
It’s a damn shame that Ted opens with hilariously silly MGM
musical-lite titles. It reminds you of how much of a song and dance man
MacFarlane can be alone with his love for older Hollywood. There’s clearly some
comedic gems to mine there. Yet once the film gets to comic con and makes Star
Wars gags (another MacFarlane trait), it’s clear that geeky callback culture
currently rules all, and MacFarlane only goes balls out with the easy dick, race
and gender jokes, but isn’t interested in skewing things any further. Ted 2
finishes up like the results of what you’d get from an easy bake oven. You’re
able to digest it, but you’ll probably need something to wash it down with
before forgetting you even had it. A sticky mess.
