In the sequel to the 2009 comedy film Paul Blart: Mall Cop, we find our off-the-wall protagonist (Kevin James) taking a vacation from his usual post in order to attend a security convention in Las Vegas.
His visit to the hotel coincides with a gang of villains’ attempt to steal the high-valued art pieces housed at the hotel. Naturally, Blart steps in to save the day.
I’ll get right to the point - this film does indeed have some “dumb comedy” moments that could cause you to chuckle. These moments feature Blart running into things, fighting ostriches and senior citizens and dealing with various struggles due to him being overweight. However, most of the material in the film that was included to make your laugh falls flat.
The script–– written by James and Nick Bakay— is overall witless and purposeless. It also makes a big mistake in making its nominal character extremely obnoxious and unlikeable for a great majority of the film. While the first film was by no stretch of the imagination a great feature, it was a decent cinematic experience due to the likeability of this charming simple cop.
This movie did post solid numbers at the box office in its opening weekend. What I believe is a driving force of that is the likeability of Kevin James as an actor. As a result of his work in the sitcom The King of Queens, and his appearances in feature films, he has been able to carve out an ‘Everyman appeal.’ Instead of lending his bankable on-screen persona to underdeveloped comedies, he should try to find projects with more substance.
This film has an audience rating on the International Movie Database (IMDB) website of four out of 10, which suggests that most of the movie-going public did not enjoy this film. However, if you are a fan of the Adam Sandler/Kevin James brand of comedy you might enjoy this film.
There are also people that sometimes enjoy watching a film that requires absolutely no thinking. It can be good therapy for someone who has endured a mental anguishing week to put his or her brain on autopilot and enjoy a simple and carefree movie. This film could fulfill that purpose for you.
Two popcorn buckets out of five.
