PAUL BLART MALL COP 2
DIRECTOR: Andy Fickman
CAST: Kevin James, Shirley Knight, Neal McDonough, Raini Rodriguez. Daniella Alonso
CLASSIFICATION: 7 PG V
RUNNING TIME: 94 minutes
RATING: *
Despite being featured prominently in the credits, Shirley Knight disappears within the first few minutes of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, her character is run over by a milk truck.
Lucky her. Audiences forced to sit through this sequel to 2009’s surprise hit Kevin James comedy, will not be as fortunate. While the original was no classic, it had a few mild laughs, and the plus-sized actor displayed a certain buffoonish charm. Such is not the case with this painfully unfunny, slapdash follow-up in which the title character is so relentlessly obnoxious that you’ll be cheering for the villains.
The plot concerns a mall security guard travelling to Las Vegas for a convention with his daughter (Rodriguez) in tow. Led to believe that he’ll be the surprise keynote speaker, he alienates everyone around him, including the hotel’s beautiful general manager (Alonso).
Blart becomes embroiled in a plot by a villain and his gang to steal artworks from the Wynn Las Vegas hotel. Laboured sequences abound, from Blart’s violent fight with an angry peacock to lying underneath a child’s dripping ice cream cone, lapping up the drops.
James tries hard to inject the proceedings with slapstick humour, propelling his large body through endless physical contortions, but while he’s proved his comic skills in previous projects, he’s completely adrift here.
If you liked Paul Blart Mall Cop, you will like this.
The Hollywood Reporter