Customer Reviews

Barbershop 2: Back in Business

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I saw Barbershop when it came out in 2002 and while it was interesting, I cautioned to call it a great movie b/c of spotty acting, over-the-top comedy (well, not all the humor was as funny as it should've been) a few holes in the plot and sketchy character development that made each of the actors come across as little more than caricatures.

Fastforward, to February 2004. Barbershop 2: Back in Business becomes the tight movie the original one should've been. This movie is off tha chain for several reasons.

1)If you saw Barbershop, you'll appreciate how the sequel does a great job following up on each of the character's story lines ... Terry's (Eve) relationship issues, Dinka's love for Terry, Ricky's decision to rise above his past troubles & make something positive of his life, but most importantly, Ice Cube's character learns an even deeper, historical-based lesson on the shop's significance to the neighborhood AND Cedric the Entertainer's old head character reveals a little more about why he loves that shop and how he REALLY became such great friends with Ice Cube's dad.

2)This movie has a much more personal touch ... the way Soul Food did. Maybe b/c as viewers we know what to expect from each character it's easier to see their humanity on top of human imperfections. You know who's the craziest, who's the illest, who's the livest, who's the rowdiest and who's gonna say things just to get a rise outta folk. But this cast becomes a family in the same way that '80s show "Cheers" became one. The barbershop transforms in this movie from hot-spot-to-get-the-word-on-the-street to community hotbed where all are welcome and all come correct.

3)This Barbershop sequel offers a little more insight into why & how the barbershop plays a powerful role in the African American community--offering commonground for different types of people with different types of ages, backgrounds, opinions, perspectives a place to share camaraderie, etc.

4)If you get the chance, pay very close attention to the movie's intro ... an awesome use of hair, er, Black hairstyles through the years as both motiff and metaphor for change (very powerful). Without me giving away the movie's very political, socially conscious message, I'll just say this hairstyles motiff foreshadows a development much, much later in the movie that has to do with the real life issue ... changing with the times, but retaining enough of your identity to stay the same. This theme hits home a various levels (I know black folks should feel me on this). Very thought-provoking, but open enough to let each viewer take his own message from it.

5)Barbershop 2 was just plain funny! This is coming from among the shruddest movie critics who won't just laugh b/c everyone else is laughing or be amused by the same old lowbrow, slapstick humor that plagues black comedies today. No, this film's comedy was actually great!

6)Great , great ending! That's all I'll say. I'm guessing though there will be a sequel to this movie too.

I have lived on the Chicago southside, so it is fun to see the streets and the people portrayed. But why did they have to rerun the plot of the first one? It's basically the same choice: Do I sell out and take the money or do I stick with the neighborhood. Guess which decision he makes.

It does has some funny moments, but they are mixed in with several plot lines that don't really relate to the movie - a love-hate romance with two of the younger barbers, Cedric the Entertainer reminiscing about his past (We never did find out why his girl left) and the white guy barber's pompous attitude.

Overall, I finished watching that movie and thought. Hm. I really could have found something better to do for 2 hours.

Barbershop 2: Back in Business is a great sequel, one which delivers fresh, subversive laughs. Sure the plot is just about the same as the first, but the movie still entertains and the cast is even better since we have a few new characters, such
as Queen Latifah who plays Gina, the owner of another barbershop
near Calvin's.
Ice Cube returns as Calvin Palmer, the owner of a very popular barbershop on the Chicago Southside. The entire cast does return, and offers something a little new to the film, surely Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) for in this film he rambles about the Kobe Bryant trial, R. Kelly and Michael Jackson as well as a few others. Eve returns as Teri, Sean Patrick Thomas, Michael Ealy, Troy Garity and more. I should also point out that this installment is directed by a different director, Kevin Rodney Sullivan who made his debut with this film and he keeps the franchise going more than well.
Barbershop 2: Back In Business is rated PG-13 for Language, Sexual Material and Brief Drug References. The language is a bit bawdy and rough, there's also sexual innuendo nothing explicit though. The film has already been a hit and surely deserves to be one, I'm not too sure if it's better than the first but it sure is as good. Head down to the theatre and check out Barbershop 2.

Usually sequals are not as good as the first time around but absolutley not in this case. BarberShop 2: Back in Business was a good movie and is better than the 2002 box office smash original. With such folks like Ice Cube, funnyman Cedric The Entertainer, rapper/actress Eve, and the whole gang back plus Queen Latifah, you can't go wrong.

This is what makes me love wholesome black movies with a positive message in them. BarberShop 2 came from the heart. It's story and true-to-life experiences of what happens in our African-American communities.Times changing and out with the old and in with the new. The movie showed how the characters developed and were improving on themselves in different ways. Eve (Terri) getting rid of her bagage with her last boyfriend (the dog in the original), Ricky (Michael Ealy)trying to do better in life and stay out of trouble and getting his GED, Dinka getting a new love. Look out for some secrets. Also Calvin (Ice cube) has a new born baby and a cousin who starts work at the legendary shop (Kenan Thompson) but ends up messing up everything in the process.

Not only does BarberShop 2 have good characters but Cedric The Entertainer brings the comedy and the laugh out loud segments of the movie. As in the first, Eddie (Cedric) plays the ol' school, funny loving, opinonated barber who has helmed up the barbershop with his ol' school wit and remarkable topics of conversation based on black celebrities like R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant,Mariah Carey, Tiger Woods, Vin Diseal and knows not to talk about the R&B icon Luther Vandross because of illness. He also disses Trent Lott, President Bush, Osma Bin-Laden and has historical flashbacks to the late 1960s early 1970s that help the audience get the signifigace of the legenary shop with the death of Dr. Martin Luther King and a funny flashback to a Black Panther era. Barbershop 2 has warmth and true to heart feelings that remind you of the comedy of movies like "Friday" and the heart-warming appeal of "Soul Food". Movies like this are a must in our culture.

The movie overall is a must-see. If you liked the first, you'll love the second one even better.

Barbershop 2 is a great movie but not quite as funny as the first. This movie is quite a bit more serious. This one showcases Calvin's personal life and delves into his past. And his fathers relationship with Cedric's role. One such thing is you find out how Cedric got hired and you find out he had a love! You also see how competition gets in the way of the Barbershop. This show introduced us to Queen and her upcoming role in The Beautyshop.

Over-all this movie is good because it held its ground compared to most sequels. I also like the fact that it is still clean movie. I recommend seeing this movie if you liked the first one.

This movie is one of those reasons why every successful movie doesn't have to have a sequel. It's almost a given nowadays that a movie will have a sequel if it makes money. Barbershop 2 is mediocre. The story is weak and the moral decision making of Ice Cube was played on in the last film, so in a way it's a remake of the first, just rearranged a bit. The one saving grace of this movie is Queen Latifa. Every show and movie she's in seems to shine from her presence. I could've done without the white guy trying to act like a black guy. That kinda thing just annoys me more than anything. I would've still watched the film regardless of the white guy (I'm caucasian) because I find some black comedies funny. I suggest watching the Friday sequels instead of this.

This is a worthy sequal, full of the laughs, humor, and emotion of the original. However it still lacks in other areas, such as a poor, sudden, conclusion; and a slow start.

The storyline of this movie is fairly close to that of the original. One of the last mainstays of Americana, the corner barbershop, is being threatened by big developers who want to put a chain store across the street. Barbershop 2, however, is less about the story and more about the characters. And the characters are truly larger then life. You will fall in love with each of them and their idiosyncracies. They all return from the original, and that's the main reason this move gets an above average review.

It started slow but quickly picked up steam. I was suprised by the sudden ending, however, and would have preferred that it continue for at least another ten minutes. Overall, though, a good movie well worth seeing.

This is the sequel to the popular comedy of 2 years ago. Almost the entire cast is back, and the sequel feels tighter and stronger.
The populist, pro-small business, message is carried over from the first film. Calvin (Ice Cube) is running the barbershop started by his late father. When a chain hair cutting place opens across the street and the neighborhood begins to gentrify, Calvin must decide whether to sell out or rally the neighborhood to his cause. The role of the barbershop in the community is celebrated, particularly in a subplot involving Eddie (the excellent Cedric the Entertainer, whose role is greatly expanded) saving the shop from being destroyed by rioters in the '60s. Cedric provides most of the laughs, and handles the serious scenes well too, this is a breakout performance.
The ending of the film is entirely predictable, yet throughly enjoyable, so let's just mention that the cast is uniformly good, especially Troy Garity as the lone white barber, Kenan Thompson as Calvin's inept cousin, Robert Wisdom as a crooked politician, and Queen Latifah, who brings an anarchic energy to her small role as the owner of the neighboring beauty shop.
BARBERSHOP 2 celebrates the importance of neighborhood and community in an era of increasing homogenization. This is a comedy for everyone. Recommended.

And the business is running smoothly in its routine schedule. The first Barbershop film really is a breakthrough to me when it comes to actually be interested in black cinema. Most black films I've seen in my time before that movie came are either depressing(Losing Isaiah) or dull for the developing mind(How High). Barbershop didn't make me feel either one of these emotions; that movie has made my day a good one, because it's not only hilarious, but it show deep values of appreciating running a barber shop business and the hard work and effort the place has been put on for years without change its true nature, plus the thoughtfulness on the characters that work in it. I admit there were past black movies that were better than that, but still, Barbershop holds a special place in my heart. It didn't really surprise me to see that, due to popular demand, that a sequel was in the mix, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and not surprising to me after watching it, it's more of the same thing.

After the over-the-top, high budget intro with the people getting their haircuts while showing slides of revolutionary and current well-known black people in a low opacity at quickspeed interpreting the development of black history from then 'till now, the story begins with a flashback of Cedric's character, in the 1967 era, going to the barbershop for the first time and how he got involved with the shop, though I wouldn't use the word "involved" from Cedric's situation. From then on, it showed the present-day barber shop running well until a successful conglomerate moves into the neighborhood to construct a high-budget barber shop for friendly competition; in other words, taking down a small shop. As he is one of many power-hungry businessmen trying to buy run-down stores and nip-and-tuck the inner-beauty of the neighborhood in Chicago as a means of some land reconstruction law, the barber shop crew and the community experienced some ups-and-downs in these current events, but hey, it's all going to be work out in the end.

The story's plot construction is like connect-the-dots, but that's alright, 'cause the movie is laugh-out-loud funny. All of the cast from the first movie are back in this sequel, including some newcomers, Queen Latifah and Kenan Thompson(Ah yeah! The original "All That" star is on Barbershop 2. He-hey!) Some of these original characters also have went through a life-changing experience: Ice Cube's character, Calvin, is more serious in keeping his business alive and supporting his family; Eve's character, Terri, tries to get away from her typical [expletive deleted] self, and reach into her "peaceful, spiritual" self towards people she abhors; and Michael Ealy's Ricky Nash is less of a criminal and more laid-back, but was actually trying to do something important to his life that nobody wants to know. Even if the characters changed themselves of their expressive appearances, it's good to know that they're the same people I've laughed at from the first film. What got me curiously interested about this movie is Cedric's character and his back stories. His character, Eddie, is more focused and explanatory in this sequel, and that left me with mixed feelings. The b-stories do explain how he got to the barber shop, how he sees the shop as his second home, and how he respect Calvin's father as a barber enough to turn his life around. However, thought touching, these b-stories left a little inconclusive. The same goes for the b-story on Eddie's relationship with some girl he seen on a subway, which I find also rushed and lenient.

These back stories point out on the movie's downsides: the big one, lack of artistic direction. I figured this sequel was directed by a different person, but the movie could've done so much with ideas that could've made this made this movie very different from the original. The first movie was fresh in interventions on discussive issues on black historians and celebrities, and people act how they feel without anything extreme; the second film was more along of the same interventions and I don't see how this was heading to a different route, so it felt more refurbushed than something fresh out of the box. On a personal note, I was beefed with Queen Latifah's character as a spunky, hair-stylish next door. She appear in this movie as a special appearance, but there was a lot of scenes on her, but yet, nothing deep came from her character. More of her character without focus on the depth makes her a liability, and that sets me off.

I don't want to open up and say this is superior to the original, 'cause honestly, it ain't. It isn't as thought-provoking as the first film, but in all respects, the things that I like from the first Barbershop came in this sequel, but more refined with a few surprises(Come on, now! Kenan Thompson is in this movie!). Barbershop 2 is still a worthy sequel, and I'm lovin' this.

This is a wonderful sequel to BARBERSHOP; one of the factors that makes it so enjoyable is that the director and producers chose to build on the strengths of that film rather than attempt to duplicate it. Calvin (Ice Cube) and Eddie (Cedric The Entertainer) head the ensemble cast that we got to know in the first film, and Queen Latifah once again exhibits her charm on the screen. The main storyline is very straightforward and reflects a conflict that takes place in countless cities across the country: the effect of change on the neighborhood. What appears as progress to the agents of change may in fact pose a threat to the established order of things. But the attraction of this film is clearly not due to a unique or suspenseful storyline, but rather to the interaction of the characters and the questions which the film raises and the history which the story reveals. We met everyone in the debut film and got acquainted with their home turf - Calvin's BARBERSHOP on the South Side of Chicago. Now we feel like we get to know them and understand them, see their progress and learn how they have coped with life.

The film opens with an historical flashback, and this technique is employed repeatedly and effectively throughout the film. Much of Eddie's past is introduced in this way, and we develop a real understanding of the life experiences which inform his homespun observations. We also learn that his help for Calvin's father in protecting the barbershop from harm during the riots and looting of the sixties is the genesis of his lifetime "free chair" at the shop. The plot is nominally about a next generation upscale Nappy Cutz salon preparing to open across the street as part of a major neighborhood redevelopment plan. Of course, the threat to Calvin and his employees is obvious, and as is usually the case in such situations, there are neighborhood divisions about the political deals which are being made and concern about the disruption of lives which may result.

This is in many ways a much more subtle film than the original. The most explosive racial situations which are portrayed took place in the past, which makes them a lot less threatening. Cedric's rhetoric in this film is certainly unlikely to create the loud (and mostly ignored) protests which the first film evoked from the professional arbiters of political correctness and those complainers constantly aggrieved by every imagined slight. The offensive language has also been considerably toned down and the sexual innuendos are infrequent and low key. So this is as much fun as the original BARBERSHOP but without the shock value. However, serious questions about how people achieve their goals in life, the obstacles to be overcome, and the question of identity (individual as well as neighborhood) are all seriously examined in a very enjoyable film. So while this is not a masterpiece it definitely is a very worthwhile hour and a half and a chance to catch up with some friends from the last film. One caution is necessary in that regard, however. THIS IS A SEQUEL THAT WILL BE MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE AND MEANINGFUL IF YOU FIRST WATCH THE ORIGINAL (as long as the language is not too offensive). The relationships developed among the characters in the first movie are often built upon in this one, and that background and feeling of familiarity was an integral part of my enjoyment of this film.

Tucker Andersen