Marval Movie

Childhood makes us who we are, it is one of the most important parts of anyone's life and its very important to have someone special that you can rely on to get you through the hard times and to share in the good ones. But sometimes that person isn't always the same person you need for your adult life.

Ted is the story of how a little boy named John who grew up without any friends before one Christmas he gets a big cuddly teddy bear who he loves and one night he wishes that he would come to life and they could be friends forever. By what seems to be a miracle the toy really does come to life, narrator Patrick Stewart explains that "there is nothing more powerful than a child's wish...except a Apache helicopter". So naturally John is delighted, but his parents are freaked the hell out, at first. Overnight Ted becomes an international celebrity, this probably would happen if an inanimate object came to life with a personality. But as it was said "all glory is fleeting" and Ted fades into obscurity.

Ted is the first full length film for Seth McFarland (creator of Family Guy & American Dad) and whoever is a fan of either of these show will enjoy the humour of Ted. Ted is raunchy, crude and offensive, but still is charming...in its own way. McFarland doesn't really offer much as a visual director (apart form a few sight gags), his real strength is in his writing offering all kinds of jokes from character driven to situation.

Once Ted and John grow up, John (Mark Wahlberg) has met a great girl named Lori (Mila Kunis) and they have been in a happy relationship for four years except that Ted (Seth McFarland) who now has taken on the role of a dead beat roommate and is weighing John down. Lori loves him, but she knows that Ted is holding him back from being the fully grown adult that John could be.

The real achievement of the film is Ted himself.  He is one of the gems of C.G.I. integrated characters into live action movies, the light that shines through his fur is convincing and there are appreciated touches like patches of his fur that are missing or worn away (as would happen to a teddy bear that's over ten years old) and all the actors are convincing while interacting with Ted. Not as good as Gollum though.

Just like McFarland's other shows this movie has more than its share of references. The most prominent is the Flash Gordon movie, both John and Ted adore the movie and its more than a reacquiring theme through the movie. Ive never seen the movie but I didn't feel in the dark, but it probably would have gone down smoother if I would have seen it. There are also an unprecedented amount of celebrity cameos, to the amount that I just couldn't keep up with. Most of the time I just didn't know who these people were, but when I did it was always a great joke.

Anyone who knows their two cents about McFarland knows that he uses a few a his regulars a lot,  Alex Borstein (Lois Griffin) has a cameo role as John's mother and Patric Warburton (Joe Swanson) and one of John's co-workers. I swear that whatever Patric Warburton is in he is hilarious and this is no exception, plus it leads to a Ryan Reynolds cameo in the film that is unforgettable, I never thought I would say this but I was glad to see Ryan Reynolds.

Eventually it all comes down to a choice for John between Lori or Ted. So Because John isn't a complete idiot he chooses Lori but still has a hard time letting Ted go.  Ted eventually gets a job at a convenient store (that I doubt he really wanted to get) and lives on his own but still him and John hang out almost everyday.

Ted is an excellent comedy that hits on all fronts, from visual, to dialogue and to flat out shocking. I think that it may be better than There's Something About Marry, because while it is a little less gross but like Mary there are about six really hard laughs that I haven't had in a movie for a long time, as-well as more than a few decent ones scattered through the rest of the movie. If your easily offended then I don't know how you survive in this modern day and age, but if your a fair game and want to see a more riskae comedy then this one about a boy and his bear will not disappoint.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 4