Dead End (2014)

Dead End: Directed by Jordan F. Ghanma. With Ramez Alkhoury, Trace Anderson, Farhad Asghar, Toshumba Barkus. While investigating a masked killer who opened fire at a local school, a reporter calls on the paranormal spirits that surround the investigation to uncover the truth.

“Ted 2 now focuses on the titular anthropomorphic teddy bear in, having his own life of marriage and plans ahead of getting a non-biological child. This leads to a strangely interesting conflict about gaining civil rights to a teddy bear. And itu0026#39;s stranger that at some point the movie does take it somewhat seriously, and eventually goes back to its crass hijinks. Itu0026#39;s nice, but nothing much compelling in the end, because what obviously overshadows it is definitely the outrageous laughs. But even the degree of laughs suffers the same problem; itu0026#39;s full of energy at first then it awkwardly mutes its lighter tone for its climax. Fans of the first may get the same pleasure that they seek, but there is really nothing special to it, either.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe first half really has the strongest amount of funny moments and also brought some intrigue to the storyu0026#39;s center. But the movie apparently cannot decide what exact approach it is generally taking. The outrageous comedy is still everywhere, but whenever it stops by focusing on its themes, it really takes it seriously, like it actually believes that it is saying something important. But the movie hardly earns anything to deserve that attention. Itu0026#39;s just shifting from its outrageous nature to a sudden gravity back and forth. Even for a comedy that is actually just fooling around, it stills displays a mind of uncertainty. There is also some bits of attempting to replicate Broadway; with dance numbers and a song. Canu0026#39;t tell if thatu0026#39;s one of the movieu0026#39;s way of tripping or the director just wants to show off that he can do a musical. Either way, it rather feels nothing more than a random filler. The movie is also a little too long, the movie hitting the same major problem of the first film by setting up a climax that itu0026#39;s supposed to drive tension. It never felt right for the film, even worse, itu0026#39;s more like a rehash, reintroducing the same villain except it takes place in a different location. Itu0026#39;s rather awkward and tedious than effective.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe sentiment doesnu0026#39;t felt convincing enough for the movieu0026#39;s true colors, but then itu0026#39;s all about the humor. And if the humor works, then there is a worthy roar of laughter to get from this film. Predictably raunchy, pot fueled and consists pop culture references; that will certainly be enjoyed if you understand the language of a Seth MacFarlane comedy. Itu0026#39;s fun if it really tries to be fun. The performances from its lead actors are still a joy to watch. MacFarlane still manages to put energy to the talking teddy bear and Mark Wahlberg is still committed to fool around as Tedu0026#39;s man child best friend.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTed 2 doesnu0026#39;t bring the same surprise of the first one, but if youu0026#39;re in for more outrageous laughs from this profane talking teddy bear, then it wonu0026#39;t be a problem, as long as youu0026#39;re not expecting too much. The film does try to bring on an important theme, but itu0026#39;s not as effective or as strong as it wanted to be; it does make some interesting arguments, just doesnu0026#39;t have any powerful or at least earned conclusion to it; but hell, who would exactly take that seriously, anyway? Well, no more than the movie itself. It should have been shorter, the storyline should have been tighter, and the third act should have tried harder than repeating its predecessor. Again, it can be really funny, it just suffers handling its ideas better.”