Universal StudiosHe's baccckkk!
On Friday, Ted 2, the sequel to Seth MacFarlane's raunchy comedy hits theaters, which will see teddy bear Ted return to the big screen in all his foul-mouthed glory.
This time around, Ted and his wife Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) want to have a baby, but the government decides Ted is not a person, so, with pal Mark Wahlberg, who also starred in the original flick, by his side, the raunchy bear goes to court to argue his case.
Amanda Seyfriend also stars as Ted's marijuana-loving lawyer and the film features a number of guest stars, including Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and even Tom Brady. But what do critics have to say about the stuffed-animal sequel? Take a look:
The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck criticized the sequel for its repeat plotlines, but said the film will still likely perform well at the box office. "One of the screenwriters of this sequel to Seth MacFarlane's 2012 smash hit Ted has joked that his suggestion for the title was Ted 2: More of Same. There was certainly no compelling reason to provide further adventures of the profane, pot-smoking teddy bear and his human friend — other than, of course, the original's $550 million worldwide box-office receipts. Delivering the same brand of anarchic, vulgar humor, Ted 2 should easily compensate Universal Pictures for the lackluster business of MacFarlane's ill-received A Million Ways to Die in the West."
The Wrap also slammed the follow-up flick and said the jokes were too vulgar to even be funny. "If Ted 2 was funny, clever or even sweet, it would be easy to forgive its hateful main character. Any humanity has been ejected to make way for jokes at the expense of every minority in existence; this is a movie made by smug white guys for smug white guys. There's nothing wrong with crude jokes, but these barely qualify as jokes. This is bottom of the barrel finger-pointing." Author Dan Callahan also added, "the bottom line: The whole thing is stupid."
The U.K. Guardiane echoed similar sentiments, "The story: Ted and Tami-Lynn want to adopt a child, but the government decides he's not a person. With pal Wahlberg they'll fight it in court (with newbie, cannabis-friendly lawyer Amanda Seyfried taking the case), and that's where you'll wonder whether MacFarlane really thought this through. Much like his "We saw your boobs" bit at the Oscars that, most would agree, pushed the line of good taste, Ted 2 begins to compare the plush bear's plight to slavery. The film backpedals a bit – while watching LeVar Burton get whipped during Roots, Ted says, "That's just like me", and Wahlberg counters with, "Well, not quite …" but when the legal team mentions the Dred Scott case, Plessy v Ferguson and Brown v Board of Ed, it gets a little uncomfortable.
Variety thought the movie was far too long, "The trial scenes...drag on a bit, as does pretty much everything else in this 115-minute extravaganza, suggesting that MacFarlane and co-writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild don't always know their A material from their B material. That's especially true of an expendable subplot that sees erstwhile stalker Donny (Giovanni Ribisi), now working as a janitor for Hasbro, once again plotting to kidnap Ted and cut him open to see what makes him tick. In fact, outside the two leads, most of the returning cast are given precious little to do this time around, including Jones and Patrick Warburton (as Wahlberg's gay bully co-worker)."
The New York Times, likewise, criticized MacFarlane's work, "Mr. MacFarlane can be funny, but Ted 2 is insultingly lazy hack work that is worth discussing primarily because of how he tries and fails to turn race, and specifically black men, into comedy fodder...The charitable take is that Mr. MacFarlane wanted to take on race (slavery — lighten up, people!) but doesn't have the skills to do so. Less charitably, he doesn't have the mind-set, the compassion or actual interest."
Ted 2 hits theaters June 26.
Will you be spending your Friday night with the crude teddy bear?