The first “Ted” caught me off-guard. Instead of a silly film about a talking teddy bear, director and co-writer Seth MacFarlane raised the bar by leaving out the cuteness and focusing on the hardcore hilarity. And he found just the right actors to knock it out of the park. In short: I was instantly hooked. The movie was also a huge box office hit. So much in fact that a sequel sounds like a no-brainer. Take the same ingredients, add a few newcomers (and a bunch of cameos) and history repeats itself. Except it doesn’t. Not entirely at least. Is it still dirty? Yes. Does it take full advantage of the R rating? Hell yes. Is it funny? Yes and no. While the first movie was a hoot from start to finish, the sequel doesn’t always live up to its potential. The plot follows our hero (?) Ted, now married and trying to have a baby. That means a sperm donor. When that fails (after a series of hit and miss jokes), Ted finds himself in court trying to prove he’s a person and not a piece of property. Newcomer Amanda Seyfried plays his lawyer, and Mark Wahlberg reprises his role as his “thunder buddy” now recovering from his divorce to Mila Kunis (who ditched this sequel). Wahlberg and MacFarlane (who voices Ted impeccably) riff off each other with inspired lunacy. “You’re covered in rejected black men’s semen. You look like a Kardashian.” says Ted at one point. If this makes you cringe, then “Ted 2” is definitely not the movie for you. On the other hand, if you enjoyed the humor from the first film, you’ll have a good time with the sequel.

Rating: 2.5/4