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Friday, June 26, 2015

Ted 2

Rated R / 1 hr 55 min / Comedy

What is it about?

Tami-Lynn and Ted get married with Yogi, Scrappy, Smokey, and several CareBears there to bear witness. After a year of marriage things seem to be falling apart. To fix their marriage they decide to have a kid. Everyone knows kids fix everything, but they can't just go to Build-A-Bear. They want a real boy and to perhaps get Ted's nose to grow when he lies. Ted searches for a sperm donor, but it turns out that Tami-Lynn can't have kids because they need to make the plot more complicated and add jokes about vaginas (gotta balance out the penis jokes). The couple tries to adopt, but it turns out that the state doesn't recognize Ted as a person. A chain reaction of events based on Ted's status as property causes him to lose his job, his marriage, all his credit cards, his baseball cards, and his Han Solo collectible watch. Now he has to sue the state for his person-hood.

You will like it if...

You like Seth McFarlane's brand of humor. Seth has built an empire of humor based off random references that are relevant to today's and yesterday's society. Ted 2 is similar to the original in many ways. Yes it's a teddy bear doing all sorts of stupidity. It is hilarious and insulting, but it is also poignant. The subject of equality is a solid theme throughout the film. That subject has garnered as much attention as the Kardashians lately and deservedly so (the subject of equality not the Kardashians). The message delivered is important while not being overbearing. There are many scenes where Ted equates his plight to those of slaves or to those within the civil rights movement in the 60's. These are told in a joking or ironic manner because the consequences for Ted aren't as grim as those of a slave, but at the same time those scenes don't feel like jokes. It hammers home the feeling that we can't allow people to be treated as if they are subhuman or have their basic rights taken away for any reason. Ted 2 doesn't get close to the emotional height that the original does. The script also suffers from a bit of meandering throughout as the characters seem to get sidetracked into moments where McFarlane thinks "wouldn't it be funny/cool if". Those moments add extra jokes, but it also pulls the audience away from the main storyline causing the film to lose focus. Most may ignore the message within the movie because of the film's flaws, but this feels like the most serious movie of McFarlane's short career thus far. In the end I feel like Ted 2 falls short of being as good as the original, but it makes a much more profound statement for those who think about such things. I read a few reviews on the film and I'm surprised more critics aren't picking up on this or maybe they are just ignoring it and hoping it will go away.


Next Week

Terminator Genisys

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