Today I am going to review "Ted 2." This is the much anticipated sequel to "Ted" which was a surprise hit back in 2012. Comedy sequels tend to be fairly tricky to pull off. We will find out soon if this one is able to pull it off. Before I get started, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Free Gamer's Alliance YouTube channel. Their videos cover everything from walkthroughs, glitches, easter eggs, and various amusing video game related content, all of which is delivered with some colorful commentary while they have buckets of fun doing it. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FreeGamersAlliance/
For those of you that haven't heard of this one, here is the trailer:
- The cast is wonderful. As was the case in the last movie, Seth MacFarlane and Mark Whalberg have great chemistry. Amanda Seyfried is a wonderful addition to the cast as she also has great chemistry with everyone else.
- The comedy in this movie is fairly hit and miss but when it hits, it hits hard and will get some big laughs. This is especially the case with the most random but hilarious fight scene.
- There are some pretty fantastic cameos in this movie.
- The soundtrack is great and it suits the movie perfectly.
- Finally, beneath the low brow humor and the jokes involving bodily fluids, there is a fantastic moral to the story that deals with the way that society treats people simply because they are different. This is particularly relevant today due to a number of hot topics in the news.
The Bad:
- Even though many jokes work, there are a number of them that don't. Some of the jokes are very poorly timed, go on for too long, or simply go to certain places that should have been avoided. This is particularly evident in an ongoing gag in the third act involving comic-con and a scene involving the TV miniseries "Roots."
- The pacing is very uneven. There are parts that chug along as they should and other parts of the movie that drag on for far too long.
- There are certain moments that feel quite indulgent. Although, anyone familiar with Seth MacFarlane's work should expect that.
- There is a certain plotline from the first movie that resurfaces here. This plotline was closed in the first movie and it should have stayed that way.
- Finally, the entire third act feels quite lazy as it is pretty much identical to the first movie in many ways.
The Verdict:
"Ted 2" is an ok attempt at a comedy sequel but I feel like it could have been so much better than it ended up being. I think that a movie ticket for this one wouldn't be a waste per se but there are a lot of better movies out right now. I think this is the kind of thing that is well worth watching but probably as a rental (via video on demand or something) or Netflix.
Thanks for reading everyone!! As usual, feel free to leave a comment but please be advised that if you are going to read any potential comments that spoilers may be present.