by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor

Now if you were told that someone was going to be creating a movie about a boy and his teddy bear, one would think that this would be a family flick with wholesome morals and fun for the whole family…But when you find out that the mastermind behind the film is the guy who has dominated Fox’s Sunday night lineup with Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show, you might want to reconsider bringing the kids. Seth MacFarlane has decided to make the leap to life action film, and with a little help from some of his friends, he has created the story of Ted.

Ted tells the story of little John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg – Entourage), who was not the most popular kid in town. Without a friend to turn to, John made a wish that his new teddy bear “Ted” (voiced by Seth MacFarlane – Family Guy) would be able to talk so that they could be friends forever. When John actually gets his wish, he finally gets to experience what being a friend is all about. When we cut to 25 years later, John and Ted are still best friends and have to deal with being adults. John has been seeing Lori Collins (Mila Kunis – That 70’s Show) for four years, and when they decide to get serious, it means that Ted needs to move out and start living life on his own. After successfully completing a job interview (in one of the best moments of the movie) Ted finds himself working at a local grocery store. The two friends continue to see eachother a little too often, which leads to friction between John and Lori. As if these two didn’t have enough challenges to overcome, they must also deal with Lori’s boss, Rex (Joel McHale – Community) who wants Lori to himself, and a crazy father  (Giovanni Ribisi –Avatar) and his kid (Aedin Mincks – The Hangover Part II) who want Ted for their own!

While audiences will recognize MacFarlane’s voice (because he is just doing his Peter Griffin voice), Ted is a very unique and different character than those in Family Guy for one main reason, Ted has heart. In a film where you have a walking and talking stuffed teddy bear who has to really come to life and interact with the world, you will need some quality CGI work. In the case of Ted, the title character is brought to life very seamlessly to the point where there is no question that Ted is a living, breathing character. MacFarlane steps up his game to write one his most consistent things that he has created, allowing for the characters to actually grow and develop during the course of the film, and not get bogged down with random pop culture moments or side stories (a la Family Guy). Most of the time with his animated projects, the jokes tend to be very hit or miss, and Ted surprisingly succeeds at staying on the ball for the film with off the wall humor that goes from beginning to end.

It is no surprise however that MacFarlane recruited some of his animation friends to play roles in the film (you can really make a whole game out of finding cameos from Family Guy voice actors). Kunis (who voices Meg in Family Guy) does a fantastic job as John’s girlfriend, and has really come a long way from her time as Jackie on That 70’s Show, showing a very impressive range in her acting skills. Walhberg’s interaction with Ted leaves no doubt that these two characters are best friends, and have been together for 20+ years. McHale as Lori’s asshole boss Rex was a perfect casting choice (although I would love to see him play a different character than he does on Community) and was a great addition to the story. There are a couple of other surprise appearances throughout the film that you will need to be on the lookout for (and a very special narrator as well), all of which help make Ted stand out as a solid comedic release for the summer.

The only issue that I had with Ted was the musical score. MacFarlane enlisted his musical team from Family Guy to do the music for Ted, and while the orchestral tones might work well for animation, it really didn’t work for live action comedy. The musical stings leading in and out of scenes did not work, and were more distracting than not. The chase sequence (which was very well directed) had music that just felt like the Chicken Fight scenes from Family Guy. Whenever new scenes were starting, I felt like I was watching a new scene starting in the Griffin home on Family Guy. This movie really needed more of a true soundtrack than a score (or at the very least, more variation so that it didn’t feel like they were just using something from one of the several animated projects MacFarlane created), but it definitely did not break the movie for me. Also, where was the “Thunder Buddies” remix after the movie? That was one of the best promotional pieces that I had seen in a while, and I think it was a mistake not to have that kick off the ending credits.

Ted is without a doubt a win for MacFarlane and Universal Studios, as it will easily surprise and entertain audiences. Live action comedy is such a tricky thing, and Ted knocks it out of the park. This movie easily ranks up with Super Troopers as one of those comedies that you can watch repeatedly without the jokes getting old. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie (just don’t bring the kids…because movie has a hard “R” rating for a reason).

ComicsOnline gives Ted 5 out of 5 Thunder Buddies for life.

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