Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 doesn’t believe in the worthiness of its own hero. However, Blart’s not just pathetic but delusional also: an imbecile, an embarrassment, and a sac of profound sadness who’s treated with a sneer by his own makers. In his best roles – which I suspect are now behind him – James has managed to convey an essential decency. I enjoyed the first movie, better than that knock off. It was created so that our favourite mall hero, Paul Blarts Epic Saga' could be continued. (Hey, it’s the Hollywood way!) What’s most dispiriting about this garbage burger is its nonsensical characterization of Blart himself (co-scripted by James and Nick Bakay). Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is an abomination of fart jokes, clumsy writing and a cheesy plot.

(Although I’d still rather be clobbered – Clockwork Orange-like, peeled eyeballs and all – by a 48-hour marathon of Disney’s Dog With a Blog then sit through another indifferent Blart installment.) And not because it so blatantly exists solely to make money. This movie depressed the shit out of me. Not because it has roughly the same production values and fat-man-falls-down! comedic nuance as a Disney Channel original movie. Because a sweet paycheck trumps human dignity.

But it’s a real movie that real people have unashamedly put their names to. Here, the “action” – and that is a very generous word for what transpires over the course of 94 punishing minutes – moves from the New Jersey mall under security guard Blart’s barely competent watch to Las Vegas, where Blart goes to attend a mall-cop convention with his daughter (Rodriguez) and stumbles onto a gang of thieves intent on stealing priceless art from the hotel’s collection. It sounds like a Saturday Night Live sketch that thinks there’s humor embedded in the title alone (there isn’t) that had overstayed its welcome 90 seconds in.

The funniest thing about Paul Blart (James) is his name, and that’s just a carryover from the first film, which came out in 2009 and made buckets of money, hence this unnecessary sequel.

Paul blart mall cop movie review