TED 2 (B)

Every bit as juvenile, offensive, sophomoric, crude and childish as its 2012 predecessor, TED 2 is a summer movie built for guilty guffaws – and it’s non-stop, rat-tat-tat-tat style of over-the-top comedy will succeed based solely on your ability to not be easily offended…  It’s a sequel that in many ways outshines the original (which I handed a B- due mostly to dull, second-act redundancies).  Although most of the initial shock value has been depleted, Wahlberg, Seyfried and Freeman are refreshingly game for every fastball, curveball, slider, bean ball and in-the-dirt pitch Seth MacFarlane (writer, director and voicer of Ted) tosses their way…  Whether it’s a lavish musical number or shout-outs to comedies past, there’s an ambitious love of cinema on display here that never gets fully reigned in and, as a result, we’re handed a film that feels more like a series of vignettes and could have easily shed a good 15-20 minutes of running time.  A vulgar voyage from top-to-bottom, this alcohol-swilling, drug-abusing, curse-ladden, ball-busting bromantical road trip romp delivers a ton of laughs, a tad of heart and whole lot of mis-managed anger to any person who shouldn’t even be there in the first place.  If you’re looking for some hardcore laughs then this talking-teddy-bear-occasionally-tackles-civil-rights movie should have you in stitches!

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Jessica Barth and Morgan Freeman

Directed by: Seth MacFarlane (TED and A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST)

Rated: R

Running time: 1 hr. 55 min.

Story: Newlywed couple, Ted and Tami-Lynn, want to have a baby, but in order to qualify to be a parent, Ted will have to prove he's a person in a court of law.

Official site: www.legalizeted.com