Oh comedy sequels. Why do you even exist? We enjoyed the original the first time around when it was fresh and new and interesting, we laughed, we had a good time, and when it was all said and done, we told our friends about it and we all had a good laugh together as we recounted our favorite jokes and bits. And then a couple of years go by, and along comes the inevitable sequel, and we all go see it, and it is just not as good. We chuckle, maybe we’re amused throughout, but familiarity breeds contempt and seeing the same jokes repackaged just feeds right into the law of diminishing returns. It’s more of the same, but somehow it is also less. That is the essence of the comedy sequel. That is “Ted 2.”
When “Ted” came out a few years ago, the idea of a foul-mouthed talking teddy bear hanging out with Mark Wahlberg and doing crazy shit was novel, it was ridiculous and absurd and then we saw the movie and we were surprised when it worked so well. But there is a moment in the beginning of that movie in which it is explained that the world got used to Ted and his talking teddy bear status and he faded into cultural obscurity as a relic of a by-gone era (i.e. 1980’s celebrityhood), and when people encounter him, they don’t care as much as they used to. So should anyone be surprised that the movie is the same way? Because here is “Ted 2” and it is less special and interesting this time around because we’ve already seen this. We get it. It is a talking teddy bear and he hangs out with a guy and they smoke weed and love Flash Gordon and consume Bud Light in every other scene. Why are we spending another two hours with these guys?Continue Reading …