Film Review: Ted 2

Ted 2. Rated MA15+ (strong drug use, crude humour, sexual references and coarse language). 116 minutes. Directed by Seth MacFarlane. Screenplay by Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild.

No doubt as a result of the sensational box office success enjoyed by the original Ted (2012), MacFarlane’s perverted, talking teddy bear with a toxic drug habit is back for a good deal more of exactly the same, mostly crass and tasteless, shenanigans.

Ted 2 begins with Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) marrying his sweetheart Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth). When the couple decide to start a family, his best mate John (Mark Wahlberg) offers to be the sperm donor. Unfortunately, Tami-Lyn is unable to conceive, so the couple decide to adopt a child instead. But when Ted discovers he is unable to adopt because he is legally classified as ‘property’ not human, lawyer Samantha (Amanda Seyfried) takes on the fight to have Ted’s civil rights recognised by the courts.

Just like the first film, the CGI Ted is a marvellous creation, and the extent to which you might manage to forget that he is a computer generated character says a lot about how successful Ted (and MacFarlane’s brilliant voicing of him) actually is.

But as it is with every project MacFarlane (Family Guy, A Million Ways to Die in the West) is involved with, your perception of the quality of the entertainment will depend on how you feel about his particular style of humour. At its best, Ted 2 boasts some momentary flashes of MacFarlane’s typically razor-sharp wit, mixed up with some potent and timely observations about the essence of equality.

Unfortunately, it also takes a deadly serious amount of time (just shy of two hours) to lazily and sluggishly insult, ridicule and humiliate everyone and everything in its path.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: A Million Ways to Die in the West

A Million Ways to Die in the West. Rated MA15+ (strong sexual references, crude humour and comedic violence). 116 minutes. Directed by Seth MacFarlane. Written by Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild.

Verdict: Seth MacFarlane rides again.

A Million Ways to Die in the West, like many of Hollywood’s recent attempts at comedy, is largely a hit and miss affair. Albert (MacFarlane) is a well-meaning, sheep farmer on the fringes of Old Stump, whose aspirational girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) dumps him for the town’s rich and pompous moustachier Foy (Neil Patrick Harris). When he meets Anna (Charlize Theron), the wife of the abusive, murderous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), Albert accepts Anna’s offer to help him win back the girl of his dreams.

Best known as the voice of Family Guy’s Peter, Brian and Stewie Griffin, A Million Ways to Die in the West is MacFarlane’s debut in front of the camera (he also produces and directs). And while there is no doubting the appeal of his self-deprecating charm and charisma as a performer, his humour has always been an acquired taste. Ted (2012), which MacFarlane voiced, wrote and directed, went on to become the most commercially successful R-rated comedy in the history of cinema. So it is hardly surprising that he should be given another opportunity to rake in the big box office bucks.

As we have come to expect, there are spectacular examples of bad taste and smut, and the easily-offended advocates of political correctness will be apoplectic with rage in no time at all. Cinematographer Michael Barrett (Ted, Zookeeper) photographs it all beautifully, which helps enormously, and Joel McNeely’s lavish score is great to experience in the cinema.

It’s just a real shame that the endless array of jokes are so cheap, and that the moments of genuine wit and cleverness are so limited.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.