Seth MacFarlane’s bong-smoking,
potty-mouthed, misbehaving and politically incorrect (but cuddly) teddy bear is
back for a second go round in ‘Ted 2,’ the sequel to the oft hilarious R-rated
comedy smash from 2012 reviewed here: http://www.moviesaccordingtodave.blogspot.com/2012/07/drop-dead-ted.html. Warning: Seth
MacFarlane isn’t for everyone, certainly not for kids. Fans of ‘Family Guy’ and ‘American Dad’ need
no introduction to MacFarlane’s off-beat, offensive and crude brand of humor,
but those with more delicate sensibilities and “refined” tastes might find the
idea of sitting through two hours of potty humor and gross-out gags a bit less appealing.
Teddy bears are “people” too. T2 (no ‘Judgment Day’ here) sees our beloved stuffed PITA
(pain in the ass, that is) married to a hottie with a Boston accent (Jessica Barth) and trying
to have a kid in order to save his disintegrating marriage beset by constant
bickering, but because he lacks the requisite uh, appendage,
Ted was forced to explore artificial insemination. While his frequent partner-in-crime and
previous owner, John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), was willing to make a donation for such a worthy cause, Ted hit another snag when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts saw fit to declare
that he is not legally a “person” but rather property. T2, then,
is the story of a disenfranchised teddy bear’s fight against discrimination and
injustice in the world, with the help of a couple of bong-smoking friends like
Wahlberg and Sam L. Jackson (Amanda Seyfried), as well as a late assist from
Morgan Freeman as a prominent civil rights attorney. Giovanni Ribisi’s Tiffany-loving Donny also returns
to exact his revenge on Ted, and like the original the many new and recurring cameos are a
veritable “who’s who?” including Sam J. Jones (Flash Gordon), Patrick Warburton (The Tick), Michael Dorn (Worf), Dennis Haysbert, Liam Neeson and Tom
Brady.
Okay, so T2 wasn’t quite the
equal to its predecessor in the originality and humor departments (nor did it
have Norah Jones), but how many sequels could truly claim to hold up to the
original? This follow-up is nonetheless an
irreverently humorous romp and a loving tribute to geek culture that speaks
to our fanboy (and fangirl) hearts.
Grade: B+
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