Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2

Starring Kevin James, Raini Rodriguez, Neal McDonough, David Henrie

Directed by Andy Fickman

The Story:
Paul Blart (Kevin James) foiled a big Black Friday heist at the mall he was a security guard at.  Because of that, he gets to marry the girl he loves.  Six days later, she leaves him.  Then his mother dies by getting hit by a milk truck.  Six years later, no one really remembers what he did, nor do they really care.

Then he gets an invitation to a security officers' convention in Las Vegas, which he attends with his daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez).  He thinks he's the keynote speaker, but that's not the case.  While there, he meets other security guards as well as the general manager of the hotel, Divina (Daniella Alonso), who he feels harbors feelings for him.

Meanwhile, a gang of highly technological thieves led by Vincent (Neal McDonough) plan to replace the Wynn's paintings with frauds, and only Paul Blart can somehow stop them.

The Summary:
"Mall Cop 2" is a sequel to a film no one wanted.  I'm still surprised the first film grossed over $140 million, as I personally didn't find it very funny, and rather forgettable.  So much so I totally forgot everything that happened in it when I saw this film.

However, upon seeing this film, I can say that this, too, will easily be forgotten.  Why?  Because there's nothing really spectacular in it.  It follows almost every stereotypical comedy/action film that's ever been made.

Father and daughter gets into argument, who do you think gets kidnapped right afterward?
There's a montage of the security guards going through different displays that show off the newest in criminal non-lethal weapons.  Which weapons will be used later on in the film?
Can a gang of highly specialized, highly trained robbers get taken down by a bumbling overweight mall security guard?
How about a totally implausible scene featuring said overweight security guard and his equally inept guards going against said highly trained robbers, where the inept guards win?

Did I just give away the movie?  Don't worry, I'm sure if you've seen ANY action/comedy within the last twenty years, it spoiled this movie for you.

Kevin James himself portrays the worst type of character - someone with a huge ego with no real talent to back it up.  He's constantly belittling others, even going as far as saying a super attractive woman is hitting on him (which, implausible as it sounds, actually is), he goes way overboard over the smallest things, and basically gets lucky again.  Lucky that this is his movie, and the bad guys are instructed in the script to be terrible.  If this was a real-life thing, James' character would've been dead halfway through the first film.

The biggest insult to this film is that, for a comedy, it wasn't funny!  There was a few chuckles had, but most of the time I was sitting back wondering why the heck I was watching this in the first place.  Maybe I'm not a fan of Kevin James, as a woman down the row from me was laughing hysterically.  I guess I'm too cynical for my own good - or I have a more refined comedic taste.  Either way, I didn't find this film funny in the slightest.

The very small flashlight of light comes from Blart's daughter, Maya.   Raini Rodriguez is a very talented actress, and she got her own side story as she struggled with the choice of going to UCLA and leaving her father or staying with him and going to a community college, as well as receiving attention from a boy who works at the hotel.  If it were her story, I might've found it good.  Unfortunately, her parts were merely a sidenote to James' one-note character.  Maybe Maya will get her own spin-off movie featuring some bad guys attacking UCLA.  I'd watch that.

The Summary:
Blart's mother gets hit by a milk truck nine minutes into the movie.  If only I could've been that lucky.

The Score: C