TED 2 (2015)

Foul-mouthed and lowbrow and crude as it was, I really liked Ted.  Saw the unrated version - as I did with this sequel - and setting aside my brain for awhile thought it was funny as heck; even sweet, in the end.  Ted 2, not so much.  It started off promising - teddy bear-come-to-life Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is marrying his human girlfriend Tami-Lynn (a wonderful Jessica Barth), and indeed the opening wedding scenes and Busby Berkeley-style opening credits let us know once again to be prepared for anything.  But things go downhill when Ted and Tami-Lynn try to adopt a kid, and get the attention of the U.S. government, which refuses to acknowledge Ted as a person.  The rest of the film is Ted and his Thunder Buddy John (Mark Wahlberg) hiring a young female attorney, Samantha (Amanda Seyfried), pro bono to fight Ted's cause in the courts, which want to declare him a possession.  There's a very cool finale at NYC's ComicCon, but in-between the film is flat, dull and not very funny.  Foul-mouthed and lowbrow and crude as it is. (unrated)  C