My Review of Ted (2012) · 9:31pm February 4th
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, folks! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today. This afternoon, I will be reviewing “Ted” from 2012. In light of the fact that a new Ted series came out recently and everybody’s been enjoying it apparently, I figured it would be the right time to re-watch these movies before I can ever watch it myself. I remember watching the first one sometime last year, and I thought it was pretty decent.
During my recent re-watch however, I found it to be quite more enjoyable than before. Now, I felt a little uncomfortable during my first time watching because this movie was written and directed by Seth MacFarlane, the guy who created and stars in Family Guy…and I hate that show.
Fortunately, his writing felt more mature and tolerable in this movie which is why I got used to this film’s tone and atmosphere during my second viewing.
Anyway, this movie is about a young boy who got a teddy bear as a gift and wished upon a star that they would be best friends forever. And guess what? The wish came true, and the stuffed toy talks! Thus, for many years they’ve been best buddies and grew up together while Ted became famous around the world.
Surprisingly, I found Ted much more likable as a character than a certain Family Guy character whom I shall not name. Seth MacFarlane did a great job giving this character such an interesting personality through his voice and giving him an attitude that screams, “I’m an asshole with a big heart!”
His brotherhood with John Bennett was fun yet hilarious to watch. I was intrigued with the way they created the conflict of the story and how they resolved it. John’s girlfriend, Lori, tells him that he spends too much time with Ted than with her, and the more he dodges his responsibilities just to goof off with Ted, the more he acts like a little boy.
It was dramatic, and it worked for the story perfectly. It was a nice way to have John decide how he wants to spend the rest of his life. Thanks to Mark Wahlberg’s incredible acting, I actually can understand what he’s feeling and empathize with him.
While I can praise this movie for its wonderful acting, storyline, and the character development, it does have some issues from half of its comedy and a couple central characters therein.
Lori was just uninteresting as a character and barely had any arc of her own. All that she does was berate John for making mistakes for half of the movie and is portrayed as a character who is always right. It makes her boring because of that. Come on, give her flaws—something that makes her stand out more. Regardless, Mila Kunis performed her role very well.
Her boss was really annoying even though he didn’t have much screen time. More than halfway through the movie, he stopped being relevant. What was the point of his character?
Some of the jokes (including some sexual humor) felt forced and unfunny. I get that Seth has his own style of humor and all that, but in my opinion, they just weren’t that funny to begin with.
But I will admit that Donny was so creepy; he was extremely obsessed with Ted and wanted to keep him all for himself and his spoiled little son. That guy surely never grew up and ruined his life all for a teddy bear. He’s basically the other side of the spectrum when it comes with…”playing with toys”…in a certain way.
He’s the polar opposite of John except he’s a possessive, creepy, and narcissistic stalker. Giovanni Ribisi was definitely committed to the role and killed it.
From what I got from this movie is that friendships can be a tremendous gift in and of itself so long as we don’t hurt each other or pressure each other to do stuff that may hurt other people we care about. Ted learned how to be a true friend to John and let him be his own man. It’s this type of friendship that made this movie all the more enjoyable.
Overall, this is a flawed but entertaining film where both Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane are at their peak. This may not be for everyone given its mature setting and adult language, but for me, I really like it for what it is. I give this a 9/10.
Peace!
