Blu-ray Review: Seth MacFarlane’s TED 2 Is An Over-Stuffed Comedy Sequel 

Ted 2 travels down well-worn path of many other comedy sequels and fails to recapture the magic of its predecessor. Many of the technical elements that made the first Seth MacFarlane movie a hit are present, but this is an unfocused comedy that never fully gels together. It’s over-stuffed – much like it’s titular star.

This sequel trashes the ending of the first  Ted, which saw Mark Wahlberg’s John live happily ever after with Mila Kunis’ Lori, while Ted continued his relationship with Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth). In Ted 2, John is now single and Ted and Tami-Lynn are having marriage problems. Complications arise and soon it’s legally declared that Ted isn’t a person, but that he is property. This leads to all sorts of plot tangents that never really fit together.

Ted 2 sees much of the first movie’s cast return and Wahlberg and his CGI buddy are joined once again by Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Warburton, Sam J. Jones, while Patrick Stewart narrates. They’re joined by franchise newcomers Amanda Seyfried, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and even David Hasselhoff, but they all get the short-shrift as this sequel stuffs too many characters and ideas into its bloated running time (the extended cut is over 2 hours long). It would seem that the $500 million gross of the first movie gave MacFarlane carte-blanche to deliver whatever he wanted in this sequel. However, he misses the mark and loses much of the heart that made the first movie such a success with audiences.

Seth MacFarlane’s comedy features a few good moments but they’re not enough to keep it from disappointing. Too many montages and musical sequences ruin any comedic momentum and while the cast give good performances, they don’t have the material to make it worth their effort. Ted 2 isn’t totally terrible, but it does enough to sully the reputation of its predecessor. If you’re in the mood for Ted, then just re-watch the first movie.

Special Features

Ted 2 comes packed with additional material. You get 2 versions of the movie, while deleted scenes, gag reels and other assorted goodies sit beside a commentary. This is a great package for such a mediocre movie.