Lastly, the films’ treatment of women, geeks, and other separate groups of people aside from either single hunk-man or teddy bear was actually rather crass and immature as well as lazy on the writers’ part showcasing how although Seth MacFarlane can be funny in places, overall, his comedy seemingly only encompasses that of a mind of a teenager desperate to show how much swearing he can fit into one single sentence whist feeling anxious at the lack of sexual endeavors he has explored in his life to date. Secondly, the film’s plot has a fairly similar design to its’ titular character, with them both being rather hollow and stuffed with rather inanimate rubbish, such as weird, out-of-place cameos from people such as Liam Neeson who had obviously just turned up for the paycheck in a scene which may have better suited something like Family Guy instead of a feature film in which it made no sense whatsoever.
Jackson which when repeated actually brought about silence into the screening I was in instead of rapturous laughter which I assume Seth MacFarlane, in all his infinite wisdom, was aiming for. Firstly, there are few too many jokes within Ted 2 that just don’t hit the mark at all and actually end up being rather cringe-worthy, particularly the recurring jokes about men’s genitals and Amanda Seyfried’s character being called Samuel L. Funny too were incidents in which humour was placed just below, or even slightly above the line of bad taste, particularly in one scene in which Ted and John rudely interrupt an improvised comedy sketch. In terms of the comedic value of Ted 2, MacFarlane does manage to include some funny set pieces that although are heavily influenced by the slapstick comedy prevalent in Family Guy, was quite effective in some areas of the film throughout its’ overlong two-hour runtime. With “thunder buddy for life”, John at his side, along with attorney Samantha L Jackson (Amanda Seyfried), Ted must face the power of the courts in order to claim his life back once again. Due to the application of such an adoption, Ted is red-flagged as being property and not in fact human, leading to his marriage being annulled and a court case to determine whether such a status can be revoked. A return to form for Mr MacFarlane you ask? I’m not too sure.Īfter a year of marriage to partner Tami-Lynn, Ted (MacFarlane) believes the best way to revive their eroding relationship is to raise a child as their own through means of adoption after Tami-Lynn is found to be infertile due to heavy drug use. What an opportunity it was then for Mr Macfarlane to solidify his stance as one of the US’s leading comedic flagships with the release of Ted 2, a sequel to the 2012 comedy featuring MacFarlane himself as the voice of the titular living, breathing teddy bear and “Marky” Mark Wahlberg as best friend John Bennett.
In the case of Seth MacFarlane and his own personal brand of comedy, I do believe he is a talent, with the first few seasons of Family Guy still being his opus magnum in my opinion, but any talent he does possess is seemingly starting to wear thin and I can’t work out whether my taste for his humour has outgrown me or whether it is just plain bad.
Comedy that is shipped over from the US into our beloved country always seems to be an example of something having that “marmite factor” whereby you either love it or loathe it.