Movie Review : Barber Shop -The Next Cut

It’s been more than 10 years since our last appointment at Calvin’s Barbershop. Calvin and his longtime crew are still there, but the shop has undergone some major changes. Most noticeably, our once male-dominated sanctuary is now co-ed. The ladies bring their own flavor, drama and gossip to the shop challenging the fellas at every turn. Despite the good times and camaraderie within the shop, the surrounding community has taken a turn for the worse, forcing Calvin and our crew to come together to not only save the shop, but their neighborhood.

PROS

• The movie had a huge ensemble cast, which doesn’t always pan out , but in this case they all had good chemistry and worked well together. Non of the characters felt out of place .
• Surprising good performance by Nicki minaj . She played an exaggerated version of herself and it came out really well .
• It had a touching , thought provoking story-line .

CONS

• The ‘battle of the sexes’ discussions went on for too long ,at times feeling more like a public service announcement, and they did not add anything to the overall plot of the movie.

FAVORITE QUOTES

Dante: What them white girls want? They lost? Did you go “awesome”, they like when you go “awesooome!”

Eddie: [referring to Draya] Did she just say fleek? There’s a whole dictionary full of words. There’s a library down the street, you won’t see fleek in there nowhere.

Barbershop Client: Streets is crazy right now.
Calvin Palmer: I nearly got robbed the other day.
Dante: I got robbed twice and got beat up by the second robber for giving all my money to the first.

CONCLUSION 

BarberShop: The Next Cut brings back all the humor and antics from the previous films , but adds a more serious element to it. It was nice to see them tackle a topical issue , the gun violence in America , while still being able to deliver a hilarious movie . Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer put up excellent performances as Calvin Palmer, Jr. and Eddie respectively . Other strong performances came from Common (Rashad) and Eve (Terri).

The issue of gangs and gun violence in the city of Chicago , where the film is based, was given the seriousness it deserved. It showed cause/effect and gave possible solutions .

Barbershop: The Next Cut is the rare belated sequel that more than lives up to the standard set by its predecessors.

RATING 

3 out of 5

BY KAPA187