Ted 2

Ted 2

Not as biting or sharp as the first movie, but I still enjoyed it more than most did. It has some funny pop cultural moments that make me smile and some of the jokes are funny. However, the movie feels a little bit off.

I liked the move and I was never bored with it, but it felt more like A Millions Ways to Die in the West than the first Ted. Seth MacFarlane's direction is a bit mundane for my taste, but his performance as Ted is still funny. I found myself wanting to fast-forwarding through all the scenes between Ted and Jessica Barth's character.

Dspite the movie not taking in as much domestically as the first movie, the movie did turn out to be a hit because of the international box office take. However, most critics hated the movie.

- Gay rights: The movie is a stand in for gay marriage, but it's overall message is not that preachy. For the most part, these scenes work and are the driving force for all the characters. Given that Seth is a huge fan of Star Trek, the story also feels like that famous episode of TNG called Measurement of a Man. There is even a callback to that episode in the court scene, which I won't give away and only Trek fans will know about it. These scenes have more energy than the scenes between Ted and his wife.

-Star Trek Connections: Speaking of Trek, this movie is FULL of Star Trek actors and references. At one point the freaking USS Enterprise D takes out a character. Michael Dorn shows up and literally dons the Worf head makeup for a joke (Dorn is looking on the skinny side.) Nana Visitor also shows up looking almost ageless and looking really good for her age. Plus, Patrick Stewart's voice makes an appearance again kind of like his X-Men roles.

-The Tick callback: The actor (Patrick Warburton ) that played The Tick on the live action show appears here in a modified version of his old outfit.

-William Shatner/Stephen Collins cameo: I guess there was a Shatner/Collins cameo filmed but promptly deleted and not talked about when the child rape thing came out about Collins. No one really talks about it. But, it was filmed. I guess it had something to do with Star Trek The Motion Picture.

-A talking bear?: I do like that no one really cares that there is a talking bear and pay him no big deal. This is carried over from the first movie, and it is a nice touch.

-Morgan Freeman: Yes, he is in the movie and he is great. He brings a seriousness and he grounds the movie into the real world. He plays a big time civil rights lawyer. He has about three scenes and they're all great.

-Justin Bieber: Rumor has it that Justin was watching this movie and walked out of the theater once the major joke about him occurred. I love that story.

-Amanda Seyfried does look like Gollum: But she s a Gollum I want to have sex with though. That's one of the running jokes in the movie.

-Hasbro is the villain?: Well, kind of. They sidestep it by having the CEO act alone in his evil deeds. And, they then blame it on the other big toy company. This entire subplot-turned driving force never really paid off for me. It is forced and needed some re-writing.

Overall, I can see why the movie doesn't hold up as much as the first movie. The jokes do feel a little stale compared to the first movie. It does have some good moment that make it a better story than many of the comedies in the same time period. While it doesn't hold up to the first movie's crazy nature and un-PC feel, it still comes across as fun movie.

Grade: C+