Ted 2

The most inventive sequence in this lackluster sequel comes at the beginning, when the titular teddy bear (voiced by writer-director Seth MacFarlane) marries his girlfriend, Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), followed by a lavish Busby Berkeley-like dance number atop a giant wedding cake. One year later, as Ted and Tami-Lynn are squabbling, the pair agree that having a baby will solve their domestic strife and save their relationship. Except for one problem: Ted has no genitals. So the bawdy bear and his “thunder buddy,” John (Mark Wahlberg), pay an ill-fated visit to a sperm bank, and then sneak into New England Patriot QB Tom Brady's house at night, hoping to use him as a donor. After these ploys fail, adoption agency visits follow—but according to the law, Ted is a piece of property, not a person. So it's off to find a fledging lawyer (Amanda Seyfried) who will take on their legal/philosophical civil rights case—pro-bono. Meanwhile, a subplot unspools in which a creepy Hasbro janitor (Giovanni Ribisi) tries to kidnap Ted and dissect him in order to discover his “secret” and then manufacture a new line of sentient, self-aware, Ted-like bears. McFarlane's first outing with the profane, pot-smoking CGI teddy bear was kind of sweet and amusing, but this inept sequel revolving around crude jokes grows stale fast. Succumbing to hit-or-miss mediocrity, this is optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Seth MacFarlane, writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, and costar Jessica Barth, the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Creating Comic-Con” (15 min.), “Roadtripping” (9 min.), and “Thunder Buddies 4 Lyfe” (8 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the additional production segments “A Giant Opening Dance Number” (9 min.) and “Cameo Buddies” (7 min.), deleted scenes (4 min.), a gag reel (3 min.), and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a lackluster sequel.] (S. Granger)