After his marriage to Lori collapses, John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is depressed. Ted (Seth MacFarlane) on the other hand, ends up marrying his true love Tammy-Lynn (Jessica Barth). But before he can take that next step in life, Ted finds out that the State doesn’t recognise him as a person, only as an object. So Ted and John start legal proceedings so that he and Tammy-Lynn can adopt a child.
As the genius behind Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, Seth MacFarlane is the face of modern comedy. His work speaks for itself and Ted 2 is no exception – it finds the talented writer in sparkling form once again. For all its bawdy humour though, Ted 2 showcases MacFarlane as a man who understands the nuances of classic comedy too. He delivers comedy on many different levels and peppers this with classic one-liners that will have you in tears of laughter. It’s true that Ted 2 isn’t as inventive or memorable as the first Ted movie, but it still manages to recapture the magic and takes the narrative to new and interesting places. It’s a hilarious comedy with amazing performances throughout.
As his vocal talents go, MacFarlane is ideally suited to bring the blue-collar charm of Ted vividly to life. It’s a testament to his performance that after awhile, you forget that this bear isn’t a real character. He also brings charm to the table – something that the film has in abundance and that makes Ted 2 work so well.
Mark Wahlberg continues to mix things up in a varied career that has seen him deliver everything from early 90’s rap to Oscar worthy performances. Ted 2 finds Wahlberg delivering yet another very funny turn that works thanks to a believable friendship with MacFarlane’s Ted. The film would collapse if it wasn’t for their banter which always feels genuine and sincere.
It takes a strong girl to stand out in this film and Amanda Seyfried effortlessly obliges. She clearly has the charms to sell the would-be love interest angle, but she also handles the comedy with a deft touch. Seyfried happily pokes fun at herself too and provides the film with a nice laughter angle. It’s easy to fade into obscurity with a project as big as this but Seyfried more than holds her own and makes for the perfect female lead.
The rest of the supporting cast are all good too with Giovanni Ribisi particularly creepy as Donny, the man looking for revenge on Ted. It’s also nice to see Sam J. Jones back and he delivers the set-up for one of the movie’s funniest jokes at the start. Jessica Barth as Tammy-Lynn excels, especially with the great back-and-forth exchanges with Ted while Morgan Freeman adds some great authoritative gravitas to the finale.
Ted is perfect popcorn fare for the summer with belly laughs aplenty and copious amounts of hilarious smut. It’s also a film with a lot of heart and a genuine sense of fun, something that is missing from a lot of comedy these days. The first Ted movie remains the best but this takes the story in a welcome new direction. It’s not for the easily offended but if you love your comedy to cut close to the bone in spectacularly-oddball fashion, Ted 2 follows suit and is simply unmissable.
