Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2

Plot

Paul Blart (Kevin James) narrates his several misfortunes and his hard recovery. His wife Amy (Jayma Mays) divorced him six days into their marriage and to feel better, Paul takes pride in patrolling the West Orange Pavilion Mall. Two years later, his mother Margaret (Shirley Knight) was killed after being hit by a milk truck. Four years after that, as Paul narrates "he had officially peaked", he receives an invitation to a security officers' convention in Las Vegas and begins to believe his luck is about to change. His daughter Maya Blart (Raini Rodriguez) discovers that she was accepted into UCLA and plans to move across the country to Los Angeles, but in light of her father's invitation, she decides to withhold the information for now.

After arriving in Las Vegas, Paul and his daughter meet the general manager of Wynn Hotel, a pretty young woman named Divina Martinez (Daniella Alonso), to whom Paul is instantly attracted. He later learns that she's dating the hotel's head of security, Eduardo Furtillo (Eduardo Verástegui). Meanwhile, Maya and the hotel's valet, Lane (David Henrie) become instantly attracted to each other. A security guard from the Mall of America attending the convention, Donna Ericone (Loni Love), is aware of Paul's earlier heroics in the West Orange Pavilion Mall incident and believes Paul will be the likely keynote speaker at the event. However, Paul discovers that another security guard, Nick Panero (Nicholas Turturro), is giving the speech.

In the midst of the convention, a criminal named Vincent Sofel (Neal McDonough) and a gang of accomplices disguised as hotel employees are secretly plotting to steal priceless works of art from the hotel and replace them with replicas, then sell the real ones at auction. In the meantime, Paul has become overprotective of Maya after discovering her flirting with Lane and spies on their conversations. He is later mocked by Eduardo for his lack of professionalism in an event where hotel security was notified when Maya went missing. In an ensuing argument with her father, Maya boldly claims she's attending UCLA despite Paul's wishes that she remain close to home at a junior college.

At the convention, Paul, Donna, and three other security guards, Saul Gundermutt (Gary Valentine), Khan Mubi (Shelly Desai), and Gino Chizzeti (Vic Dibitetto) check out the non-lethal security equipment on display. Later, Paul finds Panero drunk hitting on a woman at the bar. Paul attempts to defuse the situation and Panero passes out, giving Paul a chance to be the event's speaker. He contacts Maya asking her to attend, but he learns that she's at a party with Lane. As Paul prepares his speech, Vincent and his cohorts put their plan into motion. Maya absentmindedly walks into the midst of the heist and is taken hostage. Lane is kidnapped as well while searching for her. Paul gives a rousing speech that moves everyone at the convention, as well as Divina, who inexplicably finds herself becoming more attracted to Paul with each passing moment. Following the speech, Paul learns about Maya and Lane's situation and rushes to help but passes out due to his hypoglycemic condition that has plagued him for years.

After recovering, Paul is able to take down several of Vincent's thugs and gathers intel on the group's intentions. Using non-lethal equipment from the convention, he is able to take out more of Vincent's crew. Meanwhile, Maya and Lane overhear Vincent adamantly refusing an oatmeal cookie due to a severe oatmeal allergy. Working with a team – Donna, Saul, Khan, and Gino – Paul is able to clumsily dismantle Vincent's operation, with Maya severely incapacitating Vincent by rubbing oatmeal-infused concealer on his face. Afterward, Paul convinces Divina that her attraction for him is misplaced, and Eduardo is with whom she should really be. Paul also accepts Maya going to UCLA, funding her tuition with the reward money he obtained from Steve Wynn for stopping Vincent. After dropping off Maya at UCLA, Paul falls in love with a passing Mounted Police Officer who reciprocates his advances.

Development

In January 2009, Sony expressed an interest in making a sequel to Paul Blart: Mall Cop. It was revealed on January 7, 2014 that Andy Fickman was in talks to direct the film while Kevin James, who also co-wrote the script with Nick Bakay, would be back to star as Blart. James produced the film along with Todd Garner and Happy Madison's Adam Sandler. The cast includes David Henrie, Raini Rodriguez, Eduardo Verástegui, Nicholas Turturro, Gary Valentine, Neal McDonough, Daniella Alonso, and D. B. Woodside, starring alongside James.

On March 14, 2014, the Nevada Film Office announced that Sony Pictures had been awarded the first certificate of eligibility for a new tax credit enacted in 2013, in regard to the filming of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. Nevada Film Office Director, Eric Preiss, indicated that the production would get $4.3 million in tax credits based on the proposal in their application. On April 2, 2014, Columbia Pictures announced that the film would be released on April 17, 2015.

Filming

In an October 2012 interview, James said that he liked the idea of filming the sequel at the Mall of America. Principal photography commenced on April 21, 2014, at Wynn Las Vegas, and ended on June 26, 2014. It is the first time that Steve Wynn has allowed a commercial film to be shot at this property.

Release

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was released by Columbia Pictures in the United States on April 17, 2015.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 14, 2015.

Box office

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 grossed $71 million in North America and $36.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $107.3 million, against a budget of $30 million.

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $23.8 million, finishing second at the box office behind Furious 7 ($29.2 million).

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a rating of 5% based on 57 reviews and an average score of 2.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "Bathed in flop sweat and bereft of purpose, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 strings together fat-shaming humor and Segway sight gags with uniformly unfunny results." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 13 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.

Sara Stewart of the New York Post gave the film one out of four stars, saying "This wisp of a plot is just an excuse for James to do his one trick over and over: Bluster, then screw up humiliatingly. Is it never funny? No, it's not never funny. It's just not funny nearly often enough." Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, saying "James tries hard, very hard, to inject the proceedings with slapstick humor, propelling his large body through endless physical contortions in a fruitless effort for laughs." Justin Chang of Variety gave the film a negative review, saying "Kevin James keeps falling on his face and colliding with heavy objects, this time in Vegas, in this tacky, numbingly inane sequel."

Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film zero stars, saying "Truly, there is not a single redeeming moment in director Andy Fickman's film. A general flatness and lethargy permeate these reheated proceedings." Kevin P. Sullivan of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D, saying "Far from the worst movie that you'll ever see, but you might leave wondering why you, the people on the screen, or anyone else in the theater even bothered." Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gave the film a half a star out of four, saying "Caddyshack 2. Exorcist 2. Speed 2. To this small sample of the ever-expanding list of wretched movie sequels, add Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, a gobsmackingly witless excuse for entertainment." Andy Webster of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying "You won’t find much offensive in Kevin James’s slick, innocuous vehicle Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. You won’t find much prompting an emotional reaction in general, so familiar are the jokes and situations. If Mr. James’s character thinks of safety first, so does this movie, to its extreme detriment."