WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Ted Review

Does Seth MacFarlane's first big-screen outing match up to Family Guy?
There's been a lot of hype riding on Ted leading up to its release- it's Seth MacFarlane's first foray into the world of cinema, and stars some of his best assets from his Family Guy and Cleveland series. Whether that will be enough to make it an instant classic for some people is up to personal preference, but for me, while this is undoubtedly a great 'bromance' piece, there are a couple of niggles holding it back from matching this year's other best comedy films. First, though, the good news (and there's a fair degree of it): Mark Wahlberg is relatively strong in his role as protagonist Johnny- though perhaps nothing can erase the memory of his role in Planet Of The Apes-, the special effects used for Ted's animated character work magnificently and MacFarlane does a brilliant job in the role. On top of that, all of the best gags from the trailers can be found here in their fullest form, and the best bits of the film are just as hilarious as you might hope. However, my first problem here lies in a fundamental dilemma gripping the comedy film industry right now, which is that all (yes, all) of the film's most tear-inducingly funny moments are ones you've already seen air in countless trailer previews and/or television advertisements in the past. This means that it feels as if there's a certain lack of innovation on offer at times, and indeed a lack of daring coming from the man who has garnered mass controversy in just about every season of his shows he's ever done. Bar a few racial, sexual and similarly prejudice jokes thrown into the fray early on, there's really little to greatly offend here, which (and I hope this doesn't come out wrong) is a real shame as it sets this back steeply from its predecessors. Sure, the by-the-books romance gone wrong narrative works fine, making a heck of a lot more sense than many episodes of Family Guy, but all the same I would have appreciated more of the flashback 'story within a story' moments that reminded me of the TV show. Mila Kunis doesn't get much to do either, which perhaps we could have guessed given the nature of the piece, yet still does little justice to her as-of-yet untapped acting ability. I couldn't help but wish that in fact the storyline had taken out the sub-plot of a mad parent and son desperate to get ahold of Ted, because that sends the plot into a lacklustre direction in the final third of the movie. In the end, then, Ted is a humorous, if only occasionally hilarious, piece of cinema which boasts great comedy cameos (Supergirl! Flash Gordon!), a mostly solid narrative and above all a brilliant bromance chemistry between Wahlberg and MacFarlane which keeps it afloat through thick and thin. It may not be able to aspire to match or beat 21 Jump Street, Men In Black III or Dark Shadows, but it's well worth your time if you're a comedy fan and/or a fan of its creator's previous work. Ted releases August 1st.
3.5/5