| Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Andy Fickman |
| Written by | |
| Based on | Characters by Kevin James Nick Bakay |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Dean Semler |
| Edited by | Scott Hill |
| Music by | Rupert Gregson-Williams |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures[4](throughSony Pictures Releasing[5][4]) |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes[6] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30–40 million[7][8] |
| Box office | $107 million[5] |
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is a 2015 Americanaction comedy film directed byAndy Fickman and written byKevin James andNick Bakay. It is the sequel to 2009'sPaul Blart: Mall Cop. In addition to James,Shirley Knight,Jayma Mays andRaini Rodriguez also reprise their roles withGary Valentine playing a different character andNeal McDonough joining the cast. The film follows mall security guard Paul Blart (James), who is invited to a security officers' convention in Las Vegas and must stop a heist at theWynn Las Vegas hotel.
Filming began in April 2014 at theWynn Las Vegas casino resort. It was released the following year on April 17, 2015.Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was the first film shot at the resort. It was also the first film to receive Nevada'sfilm tax credit, enacted in 2013, netting the production a $4.3 million return on expenditures. The film was panned by critics and grossed $107 million worldwide at the box office.
Following the events ofthe first film, Paul Blart is recovering from several misfortunes. His wife Amy divorced him six days into their marriage, and two years later, his mother was killed after being hit by a milk truck. To feel better, Paul takes pride in patrolling the mall. Four years later, as Blart says he has "officially peaked", he receives an invitation to a security officers' convention inLas Vegas and begins to believe his luck is about to change. His daughter, Maya, discovers that she was accepted intoUCLA 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 inLas Vegas, Paul and his daughter meet the general manager ofhis hotel, a pretty young woman named Divina Martinez, whom Paul is instantly attracted to. He later learns that she's dating the hotel's head of security, Eduardo Furtillo. Meanwhile, Maya falls in love with the hotel's valet, Lane. A security guard from the Mall of America attending the convention, Donna Ericone, 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, is giving the speech.
In the midst of the convention, a criminal named Vincent Sofel 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 turns up missing. In an ensuing argument with her father, Maya becomes upset and 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, Khan Mubi, and Gino Chizetti check out the non-lethal security equipment on display. Paul finds Nick drunkenly hitting on a woman at the bar. Paul attempts to defuse the situation and Nick passes out, giving Paul a chance to be the event's speaker. Later, Paul takes a break in The Garden Of Contemplation, only to face off against a bird while a man playing piano watches. Following the speech, Paul learns about Maya and Lane's situation and rushes to help but abruptly collapses due to hishypoglycemia 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, leading to said cookie being thrown from a window. 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 and Paul finishing Vincent off with an extremely forceful headbutt. Afterward, Paul convinces Divina to be with Eduardo. He also accepts Maya going to UCLA, funding her tuition with the reward he obtained fromSteve Wynn for stopping Vincent. After dropping off Maya at UCLA, Paul falls for amounted police officer who reciprocates his advances, but her horse reflexively kicks him into the side of a car.
Jayma Mays was only seen in the opening because she couldn't reprise the role for the sequel.
In January 2009,Sony expressed an interest in making a sequel toPaul Blart: Mall Cop.[18] It was revealed on January 7, 2014 thatAndy Fickman was in talks to direct the film[19] whileKevin James, who also co-wrote the script withNick Bakay, would be back to star as Blart. James produced the film along with Todd Garner andHappy Madison'sAdam Sandler.[9] The cast includesDavid Henrie,[12]Raini Rodriguez,Eduardo Verástegui,Nicholas Turturro,Gary Valentine,[10]Neal McDonough,[11]Daniella Alonso,[13] andD. B. Woodside, starring alongside James.[15]
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 ofPaul Blart: Mall Cop 2.[20][21] 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.[22] The film was initially greenlit with a $45–50 million production budget, but after Kevin James agreed to take a paycut the final figure came in at around $38 million.[23] On April 2, 2014,Columbia Pictures announced that the film would be released on April 17, 2015.[24]
In an October 2012 interview, James said that he liked the idea of filming the sequel at theMall of America.[25]Principal photography commenced on April 21, 2014, atWynn Las Vegas, and ended on June 26, 2014.[26][27][28] It is the first time thatSteve Wynn has allowed a commercial film to be shot at this property. A Wynn representative cited publicity for the resort, as well as "mutually beneficial circumstances" between the hotel andSony Pictures as rationale for approving the project.[29] For the only scene involving the West Orange Pavilion Mall (shown at the beginning of the film), the only exterior shot of the mall is deletedstock footage of theBurlington Mall taken from the first film, while all interior shots were filmed inFashion Show Mall in Las Vegas.[citation needed]
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was released byColumbia Pictures in the United States on April 17, 2015.[24]
It was released onDVD andBlu-ray on July 14, 2015.[30]
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 grossed $71 million in North America and $36.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $107.5 million, against a production budget of $38 million.[5]
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $23.8 million, finishing second at the box office behindFurious 7 ($29.2 million).[31]
OnRotten Tomatoes,Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 has a rating of 7% based on 62 reviews and an average rating of 3.00/10. The website's critics 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."[32] OnMetacritic, the film has aweighted average score of 13 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[33] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[34][35]
Sara Stewart of theNew York Post gave the film one out of four stars and wrote that the plot is "just an excuse for James to do his one trick over and over: Bluster, then screw up humiliatingly".[36] Frank Scheck ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote, "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."[37]Justin Chang ofVariety called it a "tacky, numbingly inane sequel".[38]
In rating the film zero stars, Christy Lemire ofRogerEbert.com wrote, "Truly, there is not a single redeeming moment in director Andy Fickman's film. A general flatness and lethargy permeate these reheated proceedings."[39] Kevin P. Sullivan ofEntertainment Weekly gave the film a D and called it "far from the worst movie that you'll ever see", though he wondered why people would bother watching it.[40] Peter Howell of theToronto 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, addPaul Blart: Mall Cop 2, a gobsmackingly witless excuse for entertainment."[41] Andy Webster ofThe New York Times described the film as inoffensive but familiar.[42]
In 2015, Tim Batt andGuy Montgomery (hosts ofThe Worst Idea of All Time) formed a podcast called'Til Death Do Us Blart withJustin McElroy,Travis McElroy, andGriffin McElroy (hosts ofMy Brother, My Brother and Me) to reviewPaul Blart: Mall Cop 2 everyThanksgiving for the rest of their lives.[43]
In 2023, playwright Alan Talaga producedPaul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness at theBroom Street Theater in Madison, Wisconsin.[44] This new take on the series, only marginally connected to the preceding films, imagines Blart as aMad Max style hero in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teen Choice Awards[45] | Choice Movie: Comedy | Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 | Nominated |
| Choice Movie Actor: Comedy | Kevin James | Nominated | |
| Choice Movie Actress: Comedy | Raini Rodriguez | Nominated | |
| Golden Raspberry Award[46] | Worst Picture | Todd Garner, Kevin James,Adam Sandler | Nominated |
| Worst Actor | Kevin James | Nominated | |
| Worst Director | Andy Fickman | Nominated | |
| Worst Screenplay | Nick Bakay and Kevin James | Nominated | |
| Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel | Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 | Nominated | |
| Worst Screen Combo | Kevin James and either his Segway or his glued-on mustache | Nominated |
In January 2022, James expressed interest in making a third film, but stated that a script had not yet been developed.[47] Co-starLauren Ash has also expressed interest in doing a sequel.[48]
Mall Cop 2 fared better with moviegoers, who gave it a B- CinemaScore overall. And among those 18 and under, it nabbed an A- CinemaScore.