Better Than Family Guy

Rating: 8/10 (15 October 2013)

When I first heard the idea of Ted I thought it was going to be the absolute worst thing ever. A comedy with Mark Wahlberg and a teddy bear with the voice of Peter Griffin did not sound too appealing. Obviously Seth MacFarlane was involved and that was the only hope I saw this movie having. Ted was one of the best comedies I have ever seen. MacFarlane delivers with his direction, writing, and even bringing Ted to life. The story is 100% cliché and predictable but its great and it works.
After the intro scenes with John and Ted I thought this was going to be a story of Ted becoming too big and slowly becoming less and less interested in John. I don't know why I thought that but I did. The story turned into a relationship between John and Lori with Ted right in the middle. Still cliché but I was surprised how Ted and John's friendship stayed strong through their life. Their friendship did drive the story and did dig up a lot of the comedy in the movie. The first time we see them together as adults they are smoking weed, literally. Nothing made me laugh harder than seeing a Teddy bear smoke weed.
I have said I do not like Mark Wahlberg in comedy roles, but he is great. He earned my respect as a comedic actor and would like to see him do more comedic roles. He has a lot of funny moments. He and Ted bounce off one another perfectly and it's really funny. The fight scene between the two of them is funny every single time. It's just like the Peter vs. the Chicken fights in Family Guy. When Wahlberg needs to be funny, he is funny. When he needs to be serious, he is serious. When he needs to be emotional, well, good enough.
I was afraid of Ted having the exact same voice as Peter Griffin. I didn't want to watch this movie seeing Peter instead of Ted. This movie isn't like that. Ted feels like a real character and there is very little resemblance to Peter Griffin at all. When Ted talks I see and hear Ted, and that is important. There are moments where it is his voice over and I hear Peter or Stewie. Ted impersonates a fish and uses the Stewie Griffin voice and I hear Stewie. The lights are out and Ted is in bed with John and Lori and he says something. I hear Peter talking to Lois. I don't hear Ted. Luckily, this happens very little but when it does its inevitable.
This plot has been done before but it's so funny I can look past the cliché with the comedy. The party scene with Flash Gordon is legendary. That whole sequence is one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen in any movie. MacFarlane has a writing talent where he references funny moments from any decade. The 90s when Ted is singing karaoke. The 80s with Flash Gordon and so on. MacFarlane sets this movie in Boston and it was perfect. They hit on the stereotype of Boston perfectly with the accents and the way some women act. I'm from Boston so it was really easy to relate. Plus they hit landmarks in Boston. Then end up at Fenway Park. Awesome.
This comedy is really raunchy. It seems that these days comedies can only really be good if they are raunchy. I miss the old days of Dumb and Dumber and Billy Madison where a PG-13 movie can be funny. This is obviously rated R and that probably is the only reason why it was as funny as it was. The laughs are constant while most comedies tend to start strong, slow down to develop emotion and story, then end with a bang that is hysterical. That doesn't really happen. It does have its emotional moments but there are a few jabs of comedy that keeps the audience interested. MacFarlane is really good at that as well. He can draw emotion from a crowd while making them laugh.
Overall, Ted is a great comedy with a cliché story that only makes it better. It is the writing and directing of Seth MacFarlane that makes this movie great. He is the true star of this movie. Wahlberg and Kunis are good but MacFarlane gets the most credit. I laughed a lot during this movie, as it should have. I can watch this movie time and time again. The writing was great, Ted himself looked real. The relationships were real and believable and the story was narrated by Patrick Stewart, the voice of a God. Ted gets The WillyT Comedic Crest as a comedy and The WillyT Seal of Approval as a movie as a whole. The story and little things push this movie to the Seal that is a rare sight in comedies.