Movie Review - Ted

Ted is the heartwarming story of young John (Mark Wahlberg) and his childhood friend, Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane). Ted just so happens to be a stuffed teddy bear who is given life through a magical Christmas wish. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Well, that's where the niceties end because from here on in it's all dicks, balls and fart jokes.

This basic story isn't a unique one in itself and is at times reminiscent of Short Circuit or Howard the Duck albeit with bongs, cocaine and a tonne of pop culture references. The story of a boy and his childhood friend, especially a magical friend, is nothing entirely new but it is well utilised as a vessel to showcase a buddy comedy that breaks every law of good taste and decency. Sounds awesome, don't it?!?

Check out the rest of our review after the jump.

In his first outing as a feature film director Seth MacFarlane infuses his signature rapid fire comedic approach, shooting off a volley of gags at every opportunity. The result of this is that, inevitably, some of the jokes fall flat. That said, he achieves far more success than not. He and his long-time writing partners, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, deliver their trademark Family Guy/American Dad/Cleveland Show style of humour but without the censorship restrictions that come with prime-time TV series'. The result of which is some of the most inappropriate (read: hilarious) comedy that I have ever had the privilege to witness.

Featuring a handful of Seth MacFarlane stalwarts such as Mila Kunis, Partick Warburton and Patrick Stewart the cast is surprisingly vast and incredibly talented. Mark Wahlberg shrugs off his action hero facade and revels in a comedic part which proves that he deserves much more credit than his recent performances would seemingly warrant *cough*CONTRABAND*cough*. He revels in his native Baastonian accent and oozes into the clueless stoner role. While MacFarlane's vocal performance as Ted is hilarious, it doesn't seem to be much of a stretch from Peter Griffin a fact that all but acknowledged onscreen. Other great performances are delivered by Community star Joel McHale and one of my favourite actors, Giovanni Ribisi.

While Ted isn't going to go down in history as anything other than a gross-out-esque buddy comedy, it will certainly go down as one of the funniest and most memorable gross-out-esque buddy comedies. The perfect viewing conditions in which to watch Ted would include pre-movie pizza, a tipple of your favourite ale and your thunder buddy by your side.

Ted will be released in Australian cinemas on the 5th of July 2012.