Ted 2 review: Seth MacFarlane deploys teddy bear shock and awe

Director: Seth MacFarlane; Screenwriters: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild; Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Jessica Barth, Giovanni Ribisi, Morgan Freeman; Running time: 116 mins; Certificate: 15

After making jaws drop in 2012, Ted returns and he's still got that edge – although there's a lot more padding here, courtesy of creator and voice artist Seth MacFarlane. Mark Wahlberg is as game as ever, the sounding board for a lot of potty-mouthed ranting when the authorities make legal moves to strip Ted of his personhood, while Mila Kunis is replaced by Amanda Seyfried as Wahlberg's main squeeze.

Shock and awe tactics are employed from the off, with f-bombs dropping all over the place – even in church, where Ted gets hitched to his supermarket sweetheart Tami-Lynn (a gum-chewing Jessica Barth). Domestic bliss quickly gives way to some uproarious bickering and bawling, though, and Ted decides the only way to heal the rift is by having a baby. There are obvious stumbling blocks, of course, and a trip to a fertility clinic leads to a messy pratfall that will weed out faint-hearted viewers and leave others howling.

Ted's application to adopt sparks the court case, which forms one part of a convoluted story that seems to be shaping up like a Frank Capra comedy – albeit a very, very crass one. The question of what makes a human being and a good citizen hangs over the bear's head – fuzzy from pot fumes as well as synthetic fur – and John (Wahlberg) isn't much of a role model.

He's single again because he's yet to grow up, but this doesn't keep Seyfried's Sam L Jackson (because some of the gags are that lazy) from taking a shine to him. She is the bong-toting lawyer fighting for Ted's civil rights, but she doesn't quite have the comedy chops of Kunis.

Not all the gags are inspired and the excessive swearing can feel like a substitute for actual jokes, but even if this isn't solid comedy gold, it's still much funnier than a lot of other fluff.

MacFarlane is onto an interesting premise, but a courtroom comedy is difficult to make fly with the threat of being 'in contempt' always looming. Instead, he weaves in various subplots, one of which sees Giovanni Ribisi reprise his part as weirdo stalker Donny. He cuts a deal with Hasbro to kidnap Ted for scientific research, only he doesn't put his heart into it, only popping up at intervals and slowing the pace. This leads to a madcap chase through Comic-Con, New York, which is mere indulgence for self-confessed comic book geek MacFarlane.

As before it's the locker-room banter between Ted and John, littered with pop culture references, that creates an infectious spirit of mischief and Wahlberg – although willing to be upstaged by a soft toy – isn't overshadowed. His comic timing is spot-on, which is even more impressive given the other technical processes that might get in the way of the verbal to-and-fro.

And Ted for all his outrageous, off-colour comments, remains totally loveable. Not all the gags are inspired and the excessive swearing can feel like a substitute for actual jokes, but even if this isn't solid comedy gold, it's still much funnier than a lot of other fluff.