Review of Ted

'Ted' is a 2012 American comedy film co-written, produced and directed by Set MacFarlane (the creator of Family Guy and American Dad), who stars in it along with Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. This is MacFarlane's first live-action feature. The film revolves around John Bennet whom at the beginning of the film wishes for his stuffed bear (called 'Teddy') to come to life, obviously this happens. The film takes us through the relation between John and Ted and all the antics they get up to. John's girlfriend Lori (Kunis) makes John chose between her and Ted because she feels like Ted is holding John back and she will never get a serious relationship out of John as long as his teddy bear is still around.

I have to say for MacFarlane's first film he has done a pretty good job, it has a lot of elements of Family Guy in it, the most obvious being Ted's voice (he sounds like Peter Griffin). The story is quite solid, it starts to get a bit stale about two-thirds of the way through, but then there's a twist that we probably should have been expecting because it was hinted at earlier in the film, but we were all too busy getting caught up with what else was happening. The twist completely changes the tone of the film, its still really funny but it takes a much more serious approach than what we've previously been watching. The main part of this film is obviously the comedy, as soon as we see the name Seth MacFarlane, we know it is a comedy, also that it will be a specific type of humour. A lot of people were saying that the funniest bits were in the trailer, this is kind of true, but they are the bits that everyone will laugh at, the rest of the humour is spread out across different audiences, some finding a certain joke hilarious, others not quite getting it. So it does quite well at appealing to all audiences, but I think the people who will enjoy it most are Family Guy fans.

The cast is amazing, Mark Wahlberg and mila Kunis have great chemistry together. Wahlberg should do more comedies, he wouldn't have been my first choice but I was pleasantly surprised by him. MacFarlane is brilliant, even though Ted sounds like Peter Griffin, the two characters are nothing alike. Ted just seems so real throughout the whole thing, you'd almost believe that he's a normal person and not a teddy bear. On that note I have to mention the special effects on Ted himself; he looks flawless. He is incredibly detailed and blends in really well with the set and characters, it's almost as if he is a very advanced robotic prop rather than a CGI model character. So hats off to Tippett Studio for their work on bringing Ted to life. Other cast members include Giovanni Ribisi (who is always brilliant), Patrick Warburton, Sam J. Jones (in an extended cameo as himself) and even Ryan Reynolds has a small role. Other cameos include Norah Jones and Tom Skerritt and not forgetting the hilarious narration by Patrick Stewart. I must say, if you are a fan of 'Flash Gordon' then this film will be so much more enjoyable for you because Same J. Jones is hilarious and it really helps if you've seen him in his most known role (and know how awful, yet enjoyable, 'Flash Gordon' was).

Basically the only flaw with this film is that you need to have a specific taste in comedy to enjoy it to the max. Yeah it has a few funny moments for everyone, but like films like 'The Dictator', some will love it, some will hate it. Personally I think this is a really funny film, a fantastic live-action directorial debut for Seth Macfarlane and now I really want a Family Guy movie. My advice is to definitely give 'Ted' a shot, you'll definitely laugh a lot, you may even cry, it does get sad at one point. Remember that it is a 15 rated film, apparently a lot of people have been turning up at cinemas assuming its a 12A because it's a film about a man and his teddy bear. No, no, no, no, it's Seth MacFarlane, have you people not seen his shows? Anything he makes will be filled with dirty jokes, boobs, and swearing. Just the way it should be.

I am going to give 'Ted' a 9/10. It's the best comedy I've seen this year since '21 Jump Street', it gives us a nice break from all the superhero/action films that have been out recently. A small intermission before we are blitzed with 'Total Recall', 'The Bourne Legacy' and 'The Expendables 2' all in one month.