Paul Blart: Mall Cop appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. The transfer offered a watchable presentation but nothing special.
Sharpness seemed acceptable but somewhat erratic. Wide shots tended to be less than stellar; some looked fine, but more than a few were a bit ill-defined. Nonetheless, most of the movie displayed fairly good delineation. I noticed no problems with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge enhancement was minor. No source flaws cropped up here, as the flick provided clean visuals.
In terms of colors, the flick went with a moderately subdued set of tones. Hues stayed on the natural side, with a mild golden tint to things. Within those parameters, the tones looked fine. Blacks were dark and firm, while shadows appeared clear and well-developed. The image didn’t excel, but it was fine for the most part.
I felt the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Cop offered an occasionally involving effort. The sequences related to the assault on the mall brought the five channels to life. These presented good localization of elements and blended together nicely. The material spread out the spectrum and made this an active setting at times, though most of the flick stayed with music and general ambience.
Audio quality appeared good. Speech sounded distinct and natural, and I encountered no concerns related to intelligibility or edginess. Effects appeared clean and accurate, and they showed reasonable depth when necessary. Music also demonstrated good dynamics, with bright highs and rich bass. Overall, the audio of Cop supported the material well.
When we head to the set’s extras, we open with an audio commentary from writer/producer/actor Kevin James and producer Todd Garner. They present a running, screen-specific chat that looks at story and script subjects, editing and various gags, effects and stunts, musical choices, cast and performances, and shooting at malls.
I admit I didn’t expect much from this commentary, but it actually provides a pretty good little discussion. James and Garner interact well, as they bring a little humor to the affair. They also contribute a lot of interesting notes about the film and give us good insights. Chalk this one up as a pleasant surprise.
A whopping 11 featurettes appear. These run a total of 49 minutes, 36 seconds and include “Kevin James: Not Your Average Mall Cop”, “Action Sports Junkies”, “Stunts”, “The Mall”, “On Set with Mike ‘Rooftop’ Escamilla”, “Fun on Set”, “Mike V. vs. Mall Cop”, “Mall Cop Response”, “Free Running vs. Parkour”, “Thoughts with Kevin James” and “Sugar”. Across these, we hear from James, Garner, director Steve Carr, stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara, and actors Mike Vallely, Rick Thorne, Jason Ellis, Mike Escamilla, Victor T. Lopez, Keir O’Donnell, Jayma Mays, Raini Rodriguez, and Natascha Hopkins. The featurettes look at cast and performances, stunts and action, shooting at a mall, and general goofiness from the set.
While occasional bouts of promotional puffiness appear here, the featurettes usually stay on target. You’ll definitely be pleased if you want to know more about the stunts and “X-Games” style elements, as those dominate the various clips. A few other useful subjects appear as well, and the compilation of pieces allows us to get a nice view of the production.
10 Deleted Scenes last a total of 11 minutes, 46 seconds. Some brief bits add exposition to the baddies’ plot; we need to know zero about that to get into the movie’s silliness, so these cuts were good ones.
One of the longest new sequences shows Paul as his mom and daughter take photos for his online dating profile. It’s a fun concept but blah in execution, especially since it often feels like an ad. We also see a little more of Blart at work. They’re nothing special, but fans of the film will probably enjoy them.
The DVD opens with a few ads. We get clips for The King of Queens, Blu-ray Disc and Planet 51. These also appear in the Previews area along with promos for Rules of Engagement, Click, The House Bunny, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, 50 First Dates, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Spectacular!, The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice, The Accidental Husband and The Norman Lear Collection. No trailer for Mall Cop shows up here.
Maybe someday I’ll figure out how Paul Blart: Mall Cop managed to earn $145 million, but right now, I remain utterly befuddled. The movie provides a totally innocuous – and completely forgettable – piece of work that leaves your memory before the credits start to roll. The DVD offers decent to good picture and audio along with a pretty nice roster of supplements. I think the DVD works fine, but the movie itself is mediocre at best.