 |
|
| Title: | Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 |
| Director: | Andy Fickman |
| Starring: | Kevin James Neal McDonough Daniella Alonso David Henrie Vic Dibietto |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Runtime: | 94 minutes |
| Music: | Rupert-Gregson Williams |
| Studio: | Happy Madison Productions |
| Certificate: | PG |
| Release Date: | April 17th 2015 |
| See If You Like: | Paul Blart: Mall Cop Grown Ups |
Two years after unleashing Grown Ups 2 on the world Happy Maddison Productions, the production company owned by Adam Sandler have gifted us with another sequel that absolutely no-one asked for- Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
The film is the sequel to the instantly forgettable 2009 film Paul Blart: Mall Cop, about a security guard who manages to foil a group of robbers trying to rob his mall whilst riding a segway. The film catches up with Paul, played by Kevin James (Growns Ups) 6 years later and it turns out life isn’t too good for him. His wife left him after six days of marriage and his mom has recently been hit and killed by a milk truck.
Things do begin to look up however when Paul is invited to attend a national security guards convention with his daughter in Las Vegas. Whilst there however Paul is once again called upon to save the day when a gang of criminals attempt to rob a hotel of all its valuable artwork.
Those acquainted with Happy Maddison’s brand of comedy will know exactly what to expect from this film and it turns out that isn’t very much. Paul Blart 2, like its predecessor relies on the exact same jokes as the first one, effectively jokes about being fat and jokes about falling over constantly except this time it’s in a slighter bigger and flashier location.
In many ways Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is quite an achievement, not only has it managed to surpass the original in terms of just being out right irritating, it also manages to convey perfectly on screen just what happens when a group of people sell their dignity for a pay cheque, and what a sorry sight it is.
When I was 14 years old I fell off a swing, badly breaking my arm in the process and a result having to spend the whole of my summer holiday sat inside watching all my friends enjoy themselves. Whilst my memory is a bit sketchy I think I may have laughed more during that whole period than I did watching this film. Normally during an unfunny comedy film the attempted jokes are at least recognisable, but not here- the film just feels like an exercise in stupidity, each moment dafter than the last.
In an attempt to add some pathos to the film Blart has to wrestle with the fact that his daughter is going to university, this is tough for old Blarty because since he lost his wife and his mom he has become both lonely and over protective. As expected however the whole topic is badly handled and feels like nothing but a bunch of cliche’s being churned out with next to no effort.
The usual reliance on slap stick humour manages to fall flatter than usual as well with two of the movies big ‘funny’ moments clearly being CGI’d in. One sequence late in the film sees Blart stick someone to the wall with some sort of goo; whilst the sequence wasn’t particularly amusing in the first place it is made even worse by the fact that the goo resembles something Bill Murray and Harold Ramis would have been using back in 1984.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 may well be the first film of 2015 with no redeeming features whatsoever, then again at least Adam Sandler didn’t show up.
