TED was a surprise hit in 2012, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time, and solidifying Seth MacFarlane as a blockbuster Hollywood director. He had already conquered television with the success of FAMILY GUY, but this made him a box office force to be reckoned with. A sequel to TED was pretty inevitable, and now three years later it’s here, but can a follow-up hope to capture the success of charm of the original?

This story opens with Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) and Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) getting married, with Sam “Flash Gordon” Jones presiding over the ceremony no less. Johnny (Mark Wahlberg) has broken up with the romantic interest from the previous outing, and is now very alone. As time passes, Ted and Tami-Lynn discover their relationship has become strained, and Ted decides the solution is for them to have a baby. As the talking teddy bear is incapable of getting his wife pregnant, his plan is to find the perfect sperm donor. When that fails, Ted considers adoption, but this sparks a shocking realization by the powers that be. Turns out as Ted was never actually “born” or even possesses a birth certificate, he therefore cannot be treated as a person, and not only cannot adopt but finds his marriage getting cancelled by the state of Massachusetts. Suddenly he must join forces with his childhood buddy John to prove he is a person after all, or else he’ll be considered nothing more than “property” for the rest of his life. Enter Samantha Jackson (Amanda Seyfried), an inexperienced but passionate lawyer who wishes to help these two reach their goal before it’s too late. Adding to their problems is the troubled Donnie (Giovanni Ribisi returning from the first film), who still hopes to claim Ted’s magic for his own.

What starts as a mission to have a child turns into Ted fighting for his rights. TED 2 contains quite a few funny and outrageous scenes, even surpassing the first film in some of its shock value. There are certain moments of gross out humor that really test the audience, and shockingly offensive dialogue that will make just about anyone cringe. But those used to Seth MacFarlane’s sense of humor probably won’t be surprised, and the overall experience is still a rather fun ride. In some ways this story isn’t even so much about the goals needing to be reached as it is about the characters and us following them on an adventure. Mark Wahlberg is clearly having fun playing John again, even playing up the Boston aspect of the role to greater lengths. It’s a little odd not seeing Mila Kunis as she was such a big part of the first movie, but Amanda Seyfried plays the likable female lead fairly well. She does look a tad young next to Wahlberg, but it still works for the story. The only character that doesn’t quite mesh well here is Donnie, who was pretty played out in the first film, and here almost seems like an unnecessary distraction. There’s a whole subplot with Donnie conning the head of Hasbro Toys into letting him steal Ted with the intention to mass produce more talking sentient bears, so long as he gets to keep the original… but it’s sort of forced and underwritten. How would Hasbro duplicate a magical talking bear anyway? And wouldn’t there be some sort of genetic laws that would frown on that? Well hey, this is after all just a silly comedy, so maybe I’m reading a little too much into a plot element.

Some of the best portions of the film are with the supporting characters. Patrick Warburton is back from the first outing, joined by Michael Dorn (Worf from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), and these two have some of the funniest and most unexpected moments in the script. Jessica Barth also has an expanded role as Tami-Lynn, the foul-mouthed love interest of Ted, and actually becomes one of the stronger characters in the story. Morgan Freeman shows up late in the game, and has a few good lines, but plays a role that’s sort of by the book for him. The best part of his inclusion is a joke about his smooth voice made by Ted, probably one of the best single lines in the movie. Also look for a fun cameo by Liam Neeson, and stay until after the credits for a tag that very cameo.

One thing MacFarlane is big on is injecting commentary into satire, such as the discussion of human rights, or the legalization of marijuana – incidentally, there’s more pot smoking in this movie that just about any I’ve ever seen. Some might find these messages in the film to feel like an underlying agenda, and perhaps in some ways they are, but always remember this is an R-rated comedy from a guy who loves 1980s R-rated comedies… and those films often had pot humor and pregnancy issues in them as well. Another thing Seth likes to have in his stories is references to popular movies and TV shows. There’s plenty of that here, including Ted singing made up words to the LAW & ORDER theme, and not so subtle parody of films like JURASSIC PARK and PLANES, TRANES AND AUTOMOBILES. Some of that stuff may be lost on younger viewers, but to those who remember or know the material it’s pretty clever and adds yet another layer to the amusement.

At 115 minutes running time, TED 2 feels much longer than it is, with oddly slow pacing – something the first film seemed to have too. What’s strange is the editing seems tight, in some places really tight, but the proceedings just don’t flow as quickly as one might expect them too. There’s a lot of little side story moments that seem to bog down the rather simple script, and while you’re almost always laughing it just feels a bit overly heavy. The final minutes also don’t quite hold up to the strong start, in that the comedy just isn’t as effective later in the film as it is in the beginning. It’s obvious MacFarlane is a fan of 1980s satire in the vein of The Zucker Brothers or Mel Brooks, and there’s more than a few scenes that call back to those sometimes forgotten days of comedy. Even the opening credits are set to a big song and dance number that, while impressive, just doesn’t seem to have a point. Overall TED 2 is a fun time at the movies, though for some it will undoubtedly test the boundaries of comedy and taste. Chances are if you liked the first film you’ll enjoy what is essentially more of the same, but not sure if there’s many more places to go from here. That said, I’m still grinning thinking about some of the jokes, so take that for what you will.

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