ted

Ted is a hilarious film about the battle for supremacy between boy and man. If you live under a rock and haven't seen this advertised, you may not know that the film centres around the miracle of a boy's teddy bear coming to life, only for it to become awkward when he becomes an adult (Mark Wahlberg).

Notably starring, written and directed by Seth MacFarlane of "PEETAA" Griffen recognition, the distinct Family Guy style is moulded by the comedic genius into feature film format here. We have the same outrageous comedy, obscure cultural references, cheesy subjective sequences (there's a scene where John meets his childhood hero Flash Gordon, and the windmachines are out); MacFarlene even includes a Peter Griffen v.s. Giant Chicken-style bust up in there. But I must say there's something about an animated teddy bear beating the shit out of a fully grown man in live action that goes very much beyond that in hilarity.

The "FUCK YOU, THUNDER!" song

Yes, we have the hallmark crude humour - understatement? - consisting of the usual sex jokes, your-wife sex jokes (if you've seen it you'll know what I mean ;) ), farting, racial 'banter' (there are Jew related gags crawling out of the proverbial woodwork), more farting, and even excrement makes an appearance. Even excrement. As with Family Guy, the film is pretty homosocial, with the bond between Ted and Jon reaching an almost 'bro's before hoes' status, but Mila Kunis (FWB, Black Swan) does well to steer this in a more healthy direction.

Giggity Gig?

I was very impressed with Ted's CGI - the way Ted moves, cuddles, walks just looks like he's a real life walking/talking cuddly bear, and the transition sequences when he metamorphoses from toy to magical talking toy is done seamlessly without any evidence of a change of digital state.

In terms of plot-work there's nothing groundbreaking here, but that's not what Ted is about. This is a facetious, viscerally entertaining piece by Seth MacFarlane, which can stand deservedly next to comedy hotshots like The Inbetweeners Movie and The Hangover.

Let's just say it had me in stitches. I'm not even sorry about the pun.