Ted: A review

I went to see the film Ted with my friend last night. I chose the film because I love love love Family Guy. I was however a bit on edge because my friend does not love love love Family Guy, and I think the mood of the person you see a film with does reflect on your own opinion of the film. She didn't absolutely hate it though, or at least she didn't say she did.

The film uses the usual Family Guy, American Dad dynamic. A normal group of people, with something weird thrown in to change it up. In Family Guy it's a talking dog (and baby), and in American Dad it's a talking goldfish and an alien. In this film it's a talking teddy bear.

The bear starts off being incredibly cute. Inevitably he becomes foul-mouthed, sexual and pretty funny. He ends up being a fairly selfish character, much like Peter in Family Guy, and using the same voice too.

Cute Ted

Rude Ted

The film is fairly tame compared to Family Guy, and follows the conventional pattern of plot, rather than trying to be unique in any way. It has a good balance of rude moments, funny moments, sweet moments and action, although some of the fight scenes seem a bit arbitrary, like Peter fighting a chicken in Family Guy for a good part of some the episodes. It does seem accessiable to non-Family Guy fans, but they might not appreciate some of the jokes, and there are a number of 'cut-aways' that seem fairly random. 

I enjoyed the film, and I'm glad I saw it, but it isn't the kind of film I would choose to watch again and again. I love Family Guy and re-watch the episodes over and over, and this film just didn't seem as consistently funny or tongue-in-cheek to me. It does have something that Family Guy and American Dad don't offer, which is believable characters and tender moments. In this way it does not disappoint and may appeal to a young audience, although I wouldn't recommend taking your kids!

It's a good choice if you want to see a film with your boyfriend, but I can imagine it won't appeal to many all-girl groups. Mila Kunis as stunning and excellent as ever, but she alone is not enough to steer this off teenage-lad-humour territory. If you watched the trailer and thought 'that looks funny', you'll probably like it. If you thought 'that looks stupid', you probably won't be open-minded enough to enjoy it. That's not an insult, it isn't for everyone. 

To conclude, the film is essentially a Hollywood version of an extended episode of Family Guy, where you find yourself thinking "I know that voice". It is good, but not great. It is possibly to extreme for your average cinema goer, and not extreme enough for cult fans, and in this way I'm not sure anyone will be raving about it. Go and see it, and let me know what you think.