In "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," Kevin James is keeping indoor shopping centers safe for America, but reviewers were left wondering who is keeping movie viewers safe from watching the "Paul Blart" sequel.
The original movie made $183.2 million worldwide last year,
according to Box Office Mojo.com, but the sequel was savaged in reviews over the past week.
According to The New York Times, it made $24 million at the domestic box office in its first week.
"Think of the worst movie you've ever seen – a movie that didn't make you laugh, didn't make you cry, didn't move you or change you in any way besides giving you the desperate urge to flee the theater,"
wrote Christy Lemire of Roger Ebert.com. "Think of a movie that was a massive waste of your time and money. Hold that title in your mind. 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' is worse than that."
Movie reviewers on the popular review website
Rotten Tomatoes gave "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" a zero percent rating while audiences gave it 3.2 stars out of 5.
"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," said the website.
Other reviewers said the film opted for scenes that would make its audience squirm in hopes of a giggle or two.
"'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' succeeds only at being aggravating," wrote review Dustin Putman of
The Film File.com. "Director Andy Fickman … does not display any discernible understanding of how to properly set up, shoot or land a joke, but he is responsible for one of the more inadvertently skin-crawling moments in a recent family feature when Paul struggles to raise his blood sugar by lying under a melting ice cream cone as it dribbles all over his face like a substance that is decidedly not appropriate for a PG movie."
Brooks Barnes of the New York Times suggested that with its $24 showing at the box office this week, audiences will likely not have to worry about a "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 3."
"The sequel cost a modest $30 million to make – but this series probably stops here," Barnes wrote. "Sequels are expected to improve on the results of the preceding film, and initial sales for 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' were 30 percent lower than the three-day opening total for the first installment in 2009, after adjusting for inflation."
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