There’s no way there wasn’t going to be a sequel to Ted. After all, the 2012 film went on to become the highest grossing comedy in the history of film. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, as writer/director Seth McFarlane has quite the fan base. The Connecticut native had his claim to fame in 1999 when Family Guy first aired and the cartoon has been on Fox ever since. Since the comedy’s success, McFarlane has gone on to create two more animated shows, American Dad and the Family Guy spinoff The Cleveland Show and has since made three films.
Ted first hit theaters in the summer 0f 2012 and entertained the masses. The film went on to make $549.4 million, with only a budget of $50 million. The film focuses on an immature grown man and his adventures through life with his teddy bear. There’s a lot of theory behind the idea that the movie is just a live-action follow up to Family Guy, as two of the characters from the show are a baby named Stewie and his teddy bear. Giovanni Ribisi plays the antagonist in the film, the second time he has played opposite Mark Wahlberg, with the first being in 2012’s Contraband. Ribisi’s character in the film is a jealous man who always wanted his own Teddy Ruxbin to come to life. Now grown up with his own son, he plans to steal Ted to give to his son so he can have the childhood he never had.
The sequel to Ted follows John and Ted six months after the last film. Ted is now unhappily married to Tammi-Lynn and they decide they should have a baby to try to keep their marriage alive. It isn’t long before they realize they can’t do it on their own, as Ted is, well, a teddy bear and has no penis. As they start to research things like adoption and surrogates, their story makes it to the public and Ted soon becomes seen as more of property than a person. John and Ted hire Samantha, played by Amanda Seyfried, to help their case. Samantha has just graduated from law school and this is her first case. The men are afraid of her inexperience, but quickly find themselves satisfied with her after they see her unprofessionalism.
The movie is hilarious. It of course has some flaws, but there is a lot that makes up for that. Just the stars of the film alone make it worth seeing, but the cameos put it over the top. Liam Neeson, who co-starred in McFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West, makes a great cameo within the first five minutes. Not only did I not expect to see him in the film, I did not expect him to make me laugh as much as I did. I laughed until tears streamed down my face. This wasn’t like one tear coming out of one eye, this was like, I had to dry off my face after. For the next ten minutes, I was still laughing at this scene. I don’t know if McFarlene packed in more jokes right after, but I hope for his sake he didn’t, as they would’ve been easily missed. Patrick Warburton returns for the film, this time with a different boyfriend. While, Mila Kunis does not return, Seyfried still does a great job, taking on a role much different than any of her other films. Morgan freeman returns, except this time he is in front of the camera and not providing voiceover.
The original story for the film was going to be John and Ted transporting a massive amount of weed across the country. As MacFarlane and his Family Guy alum were writing the original script, We’re the Millers came out. The Jason Sudekis film has a very similar plot and that’s what changed the whole story of Ted 2.
The movie probably won’t be in theaters that much longer, so go see it soon. Especially if you once lived in Boston and want to be able to see your hometown on the big screen. The movie might not be as good of a film as the first one, but I think there are some scenes that stick out more. If you’re not going to see it at least for Neeson’s cameo, go see it for the scene where the John, Ted, and Sam throw apples at joggers from the rooftop. Also, we left before the credits ended and there’s an extra scene. Stay for that. I really wish we did.
