FLIX!
Kevin James is at it again as Paul Blart, the Mall Cop that somehow in a bumbling way seems to save the day. His inflated sense of importance is part of his charm. I liked the first movie, and when the wife suggested we go see this, I didn't flinch. Kevin James has a way of entertaining one for and hour and a half no matter how mundane the storyline is.
But this is not a mundane storyline. In fact there is a lot to like about it. In the first film Paul saves the day on a Black Friday and gets the girl and apparently they were married. What we didn't get to see is that the marriage lasted nine days, and then she was out of the picture. However that is old history. In this story Paul receives a letter that he has been invited to come to a Mall Security Conference being held in Las Vegas, and since all expenses are paid, he assumes he is the keynote speaker for his heroics five years earlier in his Black Friday heroism.
As part of the convention they arrive and visit the expo where vendors are demonstrating the latest in non-lethal weaponry. There is the gun that sprays marbles all over the floor, or the gun that is an automatic rifle for bean bag ammo. Through the course of trying to check in, Paul has a lot of trouble, so he ends up talking to the hotel manager Davina (Daniella Alonso), and Paul mistakenly believes she is hitting on him and resents it. He then meets the head of hotel security Edwardo Furtillo (Edwardo Verastegis) who puts Paul down for being only a Mall cop.
Meanwhile, while all this is happening to Paul, a very wealthy patron has arrived with his entourage. Vincent (Neal McDonugh) is a high roller who lost a bundle here on his last visit, and secretly is plotting revenge. He and his crew headed by Robinson (DB Woodside) are involved in a intricate plot to swap out all the art in the hotel for duplicates, as they have a wealthy buyer waiting.
I must also mention that while Paul is in attendance he meets up with a crew of other Mall Cops that come from Malls all over America. One even comes from Mall of America. Most notably is Saul Gundermutt, who works at a Mall in Orange, New Jersey. He and his haircut are a stitch. Saul is played by Gary Valentine (who happens to be Kevin James' real life brother.)
Kevin James is once again joined by Ramis Rodriguez who plays his lovely daughter Maya like she did in the first movie. Maya has received news that she's been accepted at UCLA, but Paul has made a big deal out of the fact that without her he'd be all alone. So she is conflicted about telling him about it.
There are many more side stories going on here, and they somehow all seem to intertwine nicely. I love the corniness of Paul eventually by accident actually being the keynote speaker, and his speech says it all about his inflated sense of service to mankind. But it makes Davina fall in love with him.
And when Maya accidentally stumbles into the hands of the bad guys, Paul has to go to work. And this turns into nothing but zany fun.
Is this great cinema? No. Is this great fun? Yes. So if you feel like letting your hair down and just being entertained and laughing a lot for an hour and a half, this is the movie for you. Kevin James is a big man, but he uses his size to his advantage, doing lots of physical sight gags that always make me laugh.
Go escape from it all for 90 minutes. It's fun.
GRADE: B+
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