It is impossible to deny the fame and notoriety that the hit tv show "Family Guy" has earned over the past few years, however, I would personally say that this success has marred the judgement of equally famous creator Seth MacFarlane. He has brought out many other shows such as "American Dad!" and "The Cleveland Show" both of which fall short of the standards that "Family Guy" set, seeing as they are both essentially the exact same show, except all the funny plotlines have already been used. So when his new film "Ted" was launched earlier in this year there was a high chance it would lead to disappointment as well - this is exactly what happened. The film begins well enough, in a fairly manner with a grandfatherly sounding voice over but it quickly becomes clear that the writers were running out of ideas. Ted, is basically Peter Griffin, the exact same characteristics from his drinking to his vulgarity to his intermittent childish behaviour. This is senseless though, as a bear he can't physically have sex and while one might suspend belief and accept that this bear is an alcoholic there is actually a scene where he says he doesn't have a stomach. Simple continuity films such as this ruin any film, and would be perfect prey for a classic "Family Guy" sketch makes them inexcusable in this film. Furthermore, despite being named after him, the film has seemingly nothing to do with Ted and it instead focuses on how he ruins the relationship of his owner.
With no direct criticism of Mark Wahlberg, the character he plays is similar to Ted in many ways, making him unlikable and therefore apathetic to the success or failure of his relationship. Combined, Ted and his owner aren't funny which makes them pathetic and so you actually begin to question how he found a girlfriend to lose at all. There is also a strange side story in which Ted gets kidnapped by a man who has adored him since his childhood. These scene don't fit into the rest of the film at all, they are far too dark for the former "comedy" and when they begin to hint at abuse it just makes for a very awkward atmosphere within the audience. In conclusion, "awkward" is an apt word for most of the jokes that are made throughout the movie and for the money it must have cost to make, it would have been a far better investment for MacFarlane to simply make a "Family Guy" movie, all the actors were included but the characters would have been far more likeable and and in general it would have just been funnier - not that that would have been hard.