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'Ted 2': Why the humor doesn't work for the comedy sequel

Though all agreed it was offensive, some critics were won over by the comedy in Seth MacFarlane's comedy 'Ted,' in part because of the believable and loving relationships between the main characters. But in the sequel 'Ted 2,' critics are calling the humor 'cruel.'

The upcoming release of the film 鈥淭ed 2鈥� has many critics calling the movie's humor mean-spirited and missing the sentimental relationships that were in the first movie.

Seth MacFarlane, the director, co-writer, and star (via voice) of the 鈥淭ed鈥� films, is no stranger to controversy. His series 鈥淔amily Guy,鈥� which airs on Fox, has long alienated some viewers with its politically incorrect jokes and he angered some viewers in 2013 when he hosted the Oscars. Cracks about female nudity in films and others were ill-received, with Monitor writer Gloria Goodale noting that 鈥淢acFarlane鈥� has been criticized for making sexist, racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic jokes (does this miss any groups?) as well as general bad taste.鈥澛�

MacFarlane鈥檚 2012 film 鈥淭ed鈥� was a box office hit, so a sequel was probably inevitable, and according to early reviews (鈥淭ed 2鈥� hits theaters on June 26), the new film is just as full of envelope-pushing humor as the first movie.

There are some who will always be turned off by edgy humor, but others have noted that while much of the humor was offensive in the first movie, it was mitigated by the relationships between the stuffed bear Ted and his friend John (Mark Wahlberg) and between John and his girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis). Ty Burr of the called the film 鈥渕ostly hilarious [and] surprisingly sentimental鈥� The movie works not because the gross-out jokes are funny (MacFarlane bats about 2 out of 3) but because the two central relationships, between John and Kunis鈥檚 tough, tender Lori and between John and Ted, feel real 鈥� or real enough.鈥� writer Todd McCarthy agreed, calling the film 鈥渞aucously funny鈥� and writing that 鈥渢he relationship between John and Lori feels genuine and strong enough to make you root for it to work out,鈥� while writer Betsy Sharkey notes that the three players make up 鈥渢he warm and fuzzy love triangle at the center of the raucous rudeness鈥� While nothing is sacred, the sacrilege comes with just enough sweetness to offset the salt.鈥澛�

But with this sequel, that sweetness seems to be gone (possibly partly caused by Kunis鈥檚 departure). writer Richard Roeper writes of the new movie, 鈥淭he first time Ted makes a joke about Amanda Seyfried鈥檚 character and her big eyes, it鈥檚 startling and hilarious. The second time, it鈥檚 just flat and unfunny. The third time, Ted just comes across as cruel,鈥� while Dan Callahan of wrote that 鈥渂ad taste needs to be more honest and more all-inclusive if it鈥檚 to make a lasting impression, and MacFarlane鈥檚 bad taste here is both too wishy-washy and too knee-jerk cruel to really make any impact.鈥� writer Jacob Hall agreed, writing of the film, "Its penchant for casual cruelty masks a hollow soul."