This was definitely a so-so movie. A few funny moments born of the physical comedy; however, not much on dialog. Kevin James is usually pretty funny, but in this movie he seemed restrained. I'm not sure if it was because the script lacked substance, or the director didn't let James let loose or what. Part of the problem may have been that the director and writer beat the audience over the head with the concept that James's Character, Paul Blart, is basically a total looser. We get it. We got it in the first ten minutes. We didn't need an additional 20 minutes of being shown that he was a looser.... get on with the plot!
And predictable, oh my gosh, could they have followed "the formula" any closer? Looser, faces challenge, overcomes personal problems and idiosyncrasies in a ridiculously short period of time, he defeats all enemies, the end. And, they unfortunately also showed many of the best physical comedic moments in the trailers. The film took itself way too seriously, they would have been better off to more closely follow a Die Hard plot, and really spoofed it.
And predictable, oh my gosh, could they have followed "the formula" any closer? Looser, faces challenge, overcomes personal problems and idiosyncrasies in a ridiculously short period of time, he defeats all enemies, the end. And, they unfortunately also showed many of the best physical comedic moments in the trailers. The film took itself way too seriously, they would have been better off to more closely follow a Die Hard plot, and really spoofed it.