Ted 2 (2015)

I know this will be shocking to hear, but it's not as good as the first one. It's pretty much exactly what you think it is, a so-so follow up to the original. This is all going to come down to whether or not you even liked Ted, and how much of a Seth MacFarlane fan you are.

Comedy sequels are almost always a huge step down, both in the laughs and the story. However, I'll give them a little bit of credit for actually having a direction that feels like it actually came organically from the first, with Ted trying to prove that he's a person. Here's my problem with this though, this takes place in a world where nobody seems to care or be in awe of the fact that there's a living teddy bear. He walks down the street and nobody gives him a second glance. Before you say, "Yeah, but he's not actually there. It's special effects", I'll counter with, "That's why it's called acting, and the director should also be directing them to pretend they see him". When people talk to him, they act as if they have no idea who he is. This lack of attention to detail shows you how lazy it all is.

As you'd guess, pretty hit or miss on the laughs. I did laugh out loud more than a few times, even had a few sustained ones well after the gag was over. There are just as many cringe worthy moments though, like when it relies on people behaving or doing things that simply wouldn't happen in reality, which is a giant pet peeve of mine. I was also surprised at the lack of non-sequiturs for a Seth MacFarlane property.

It's also fairly racist. Don't get me wrong, you can make jokes about race and it not be racist, but there's too many times where the jokes are all at the expense of certain groups and nothing else. This is something that Seth MacFarlane doesn't seem to get. He's always tried to toe that line, but he's just not as clever as other guys doing the same thing. Like when South Park does it, there's always some underlying point to it all that's pretty smart. MacFarlane seems to do it simply for shock value, and because he knows he can get away with.

Despite all the laziness, the one thing that impressed me the most was how committed Mark Wahlberg is. Here's a guy that never really seemed like he has much of a sense of humor, especially about himself, or gift for physical comedy, but he's really going for it. I guess he's lightened up as he's gotten older.

Anyway, it's worth a matinee if you were a fan of the first, but this is likely not going to move the needle otherwise.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Gangster Squad (2013) - Movie Review

Gangsters shoot about as well as Stormtroopers.

Here's an example of when a movie 'based off true events' misses the mark.  In Gangster Squad we follow a task force created to stop gangster Mickey Cohen's criminal organization.

Set back in the late 1940's, Cohen (Sean Penn) was a ruthless gangster that the LAPD was in danger of losing the city to.  It didn't help that many local police forces were on his payroll, and just as much a part of the problem as the gangsters were. Chief Bill Parker (a super gravelly Nick Nolte), puts John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) in charge of putting together a small, 'off the books' task force to stop Cohen.  O'Mara is an honest, but tough minded cop, and is told that he doesn't simply want Cohen killed, but he wants his organization destroyed to the point where any other gangster would be scared off from trying to swoop in after Cohen is gone.

Normally a movie like Gangster Squad is right up my alley.  It's slick looking, has a good cast, and I generally love stories about gangsters, especially when based off real people.  However, the whole time while I'm watching I can't quite figure out why it wasn't clicking for me.  After a bloody opening, I thought it was going to be the kind of violent crime drama that I enjoy, but it all felt very tame somehow.  Maybe because when I compare it to something like Django Unchained the violence didn't have the same kind of impact to it.

The story itself is also very thin and there's not a lot of depth to any of the characters.  They try to show that some of the squad members are conflicted over the level of violence they are using to stop the bad guys, and is there really any difference between the police and the gangsters, but they don't really go into it too much.  Will Beall's script was based off a book Tales from the Gangster Squad by Paul Lieberman, and neither he or the book have an entry on Wikipedia, so that ought to tell you something about how popular or critically acclaimed that book is.  If you're gonna base your 'based on true events' movie off a book, maybe you should go with one people have heard of.  I'm a little nervous now that Beall is attached to both the upcoming Justice League movie and the next Lethal Weapon.  I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

There's also a love story between squad member Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) and Cohen's girlfriend Grace (Emma Stone). As much as I like Gosling and Stone, I felt they were both miscast here.  Stone seemed too young and innocent to play the kind of sexy the role needed, not that there was much to the role in the first place.  Gosling's voice had a weird affectation to it where it he sounded like he was sucking on helium in between takes, and his voice wasn't consistent through the film.  I think the biggest missed opportunity between these two was that the great chemistry they demonstrated in Crazy, Stupid, Love was all but gone here.

A movie is only as good as its bad guy, but Sean Penn's Cohen wasn't very effective.  It didn't help that they put him in ridiculous looking makeup and spoke with a overdone accent that made him feel more like a Dick Tracy villain than a real person.  It also doesn't help the realism that even with the makeup, Penn doesn't look anything like Mickey Cohen.

Mickey Cohen, 1949.  The resemblance
 to Sean Penn is uncanny, huh?

Looking at that picture, you'd think that someone like Joe Pesci or even Bob Hoskins would be a better fit.

Gangster Squad is another movie where the bad guys with automatic weapons can't hit shit, but the good guys are all crack shots.  It's like they all went to the Stormtrooper school of marksmanship.  This allows a group of just five people to take on and defeat a much larger force of gangsters.  It's not like they employed any kind of tactics to give them the upper hand either.  The bad guys even make it easy on them by refusing to take any kind of cover when being shot at or just run right up to them as they're being fired upon.

Between the over-the-top performance of Sean Penn and the silliness of his henchmen, I couldn't figure out if this was meant to be a serious drama, or if they were going for more of a humorous angle.  Confusing this further was that this was directed by Ruben Fleischer, who was on more of a comedic track with his previous films, Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less.  He's still one of my favorite up-and-coming directors, but he probably wasn't the best choice to direct if the intent was to make as serious crime drama.  I do think he did a good job with the look of the film, which was it's strength.

Gangster Squad is an example of a movie that's all style and no substance.  It's normally the type of film I eat up, but I didn't find it all that creative or original.  It wastes a talented cast with a very pedestrian story that can nobody can rise above.  It's ultimately pretty forgettable, but it's not a bad rental when you want to kill two hours.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Ted (2012) - Movie Review

A lonely boy makes a Christmas wish that comes true.  That's just the opening moments of Ted, the big screen directorial debut of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.  I've been looking forward to this for a while, but was worried how the concept would come off.  How would a walking, talking, over-sized teddy bear play in a live-action movie?  On the surface, it's a pretty ridiculous idea that could be a disaster if not done right.

The narration (by Captain Picard...eh, I mean Patrick Stewart) sets up the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a boy that had difficulty making friends.  His parents give him a very large teddy bear that John wishes could be his real best friend forever.  Magically, Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) comes alive and agrees to be his best friend.  In a sequence that's oddly similar to Adam Sandler's That's My Boy (which is ironic since the movie makes a point to make fun of Sandler), Ted coming alive doesn't go unnoticed by the world and he becomes a celebrity.  However, as the narration points out, eventually all celebrity or fads fade and Ted is forgotten about.

We fast forward to a 35-year-old John, who's still best friends with Ted, but neither of them have really grown up. John's not all that ambitious and spends every chance he gets getting high or partying with Ted.  His girlfriend of four years, Lori (Mila Kunis), has been patiently waiting for John to grow up and starts to question if he can ever do this while Ted is around.  This sets up an 'it's either him or me' ultimatum.  John is torn, obviously, because how do you choose between the love of your life and your best friend?  It's a story we've seen many times before.

But is it funny?  Well, have you ever wondered what an extended Family Guy episode without all of that annoying censorship would be like?  Well, I guess if you own any of the DVDs or the Family Guy "Star Wars" episodes, you'd have an idea, but for the rest of you, this would be it.  It really does play like a Family Guy episode, from the style of humor, the musical score, and the use of the much of the Family Guy cast.  Ted is rated R and they really go for it as far as the language and raunchy humor.  This is definitely not for kids.  Most of the time it works, but it does miss here and there.  I laughed out loud throughout the movie, and there are many times where the laughter from the audience was so loud that you couldn't hear the next line of dialog.  It doesn't let up for a minute and Ted doesn't pull any punches.

One of the things that makes Ted work is how great Ted ended up looking.  I'm not sure if they used strictly CG or a combination of animatronics and CG, but they really pulled it off.  Between Seth MacFarlane's voice acting and the animation, Ted really does feel alive and has real chemistry with Mark Wahlberg and the rest of the cast.

I've been hard on Mark Wahlberg in the past, but I thought he was really great here.  He's primarily the straight man to Ted, but it played to his strengths and it was nice to seem him do something a little different than the stoic or tough guy characters he usually plays.  He's so serious all the time, that I've often wondered if Walhberg had any sense of humor at all.  Mila Kunis has always had good comedic timing and did a good job of being sympathetic, as well.  It would have been really easy to come off as bitchy and then you'd understand why John would want to spend more time with Ted.

The rest of the cast has their moments as well.  Joel McHale plays a great, creepy boss who's main goal is to steal Lori away from John.  Patrick Warburton has a small, but very funny role as one of John's co-workers. Sam J. Jones (from the 80's Flash Gordon, a running gag throughout the film), shows up during a great party sequence towards the end.  Givoanni Ribisi also shows up at various points in the film and has a part in the unusual direction the story takes towards the end.

This was an impressive directorial debut by Seth MacFarlane.  For someone that's only done animation, he really was able to translate his style of humor over to live action well.  If he continues to make movies, I hope he continues to take chances and doesn't fall into a formula, but so far he's off to a really good start.  MacFarlane is joined by fellow Family Guy writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, so you can definitely see the influence on the writing on humor.

While Ted is not a perfect film, it's a consistently hilarious movie that gets the most out of it's concept and it's great cast.  It doesn't require you to be a Family Guy fan to enjoy and it's simply a fun, raunchy comedy for the Summer.  If you just want to a good laugh, I recommend checking it out.

4 out of 5 Death Stars