SummaryIt’s been more than 10 years since our last appointment at Calvin’s Barbershop. Calvin (Ice Cube) and his longtime crew, including Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), 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...
SummaryIt’s been more than 10 years since our last appointment at Calvin’s Barbershop. Calvin (Ice Cube) and his longtime crew, including Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), 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...
Barbershop: The Next Cut is stagey, often simplistic and it talks too damn much. But, hell, the talk has flavor and snap and a real-world sense of a community in crisis. Not bad for an escapist romp.
A movie with a genuinely strong message that any film goer will enjoy. I’d say it’s a more emotional barbershop film, nothing wrong with a little realism. I enjoyed it! Humor was decent but I wasn’t expecting it to be over the top funny.
Barbershop: The Next Cut, the third installment in the film series, brings the laughs while injecting a serious topical theme that gives it a welcome edge.
This time the not-so-idle talk is about taking a socially conscious stand against gang violence. And while some of this territory is covered too tritely and safely to have all the impact intended by director Malcolm D. Lee (“The Best Man Holiday”), the movie’s entreaties are compelling enough.
Cube is getting the bigger cut and he never takes it for granted, just like the world he revolves around, the chemistry is off the hook.
Barbershop: The Next Cut
Lee knows it is the White House party of the parties. Everybody would want to be in it and everyone would want to have a big chunk of that cake. And offering them enough space to come in and present their show as they feel, the director, Malcolm D. Lee is rearranging the shuffled acts into one big discussion. Yes. Discussion is what the film feels like. And to be honest, it is a fair discussion, swooping in every opinion and perspective and idea and even a politically wrong comment. This is how honest, they are, they mock so arrogantly and accepts the insults and repercussions bravely.
In fact, the very first act is it. Ticking for almost the first half, the discussions are the best part of the film, it starts off from fighting over the equality, they find themselves tangled in a long chain, ping pong-ing back and forth, spewing and biting each other trying to prove their superiority sarcastically. The referential comedy is turned to 11. To someone who doesn't come from that background, would get definitely difficult to grab the momentum of the humor.
Another major improvement is scoffing off the limitations that their previous installments had, correcting themselves politically and going toe-to-toe with the generations, the pace has improved and sensitive content juiced up. Ice Cube is still the sober worker in this shop and Cedric still the most drunk one, no new character coming in with their fresh humorous vocab could beat Cedric's comic timing, he has been in their chair for more than a decade ago and that throne is well earned. Barbershop: The Next Cut may feel like the cut that you have been getting over the years, it's just that they have used the wave of the current media into account that will make you feel like you are new, once again.
The first Barbershop was a classic. I guess like Friday they had a good success so they had to ruin it by making unnecessary sequals. The message behind the the 3th Barbershop might have been a good one (gang violence) but it didn't save the movie. It felt (as with Friday) that they had succes with the first one so they continue making sequels without a good nor funny story (but with famous people) for as long as they can earn money on it. I was disappointed. Most of the actors were bad and most of the conversations in the Barbershop were boring (same old song) ...
Even though the film had one good actor "Ice Cube", but I didn't recognize any other actor/actress in the movie. Also I didn't laugh one time and it becomes incredibly racist and stereotypical dialogue. I guess since I'm not African American I didn't get some of the jokes. It seems when blacks are racist it's okay.
If you believe the advertising for this 3rd installment in the series, you'd be expecting plenty of laughter. Not the case. Although there are a few genuinely funny moments (mostly provided by Cedric the Entertainer's crusty comments), the feel-good aspects have given way to personal drama and political statements. Calvin’s Barbershop has added a women's section, which could have allowed for plenty of sassy repartee, but it's mostly about women's issues. On top of that, their hood's crime-ridden environment leads to much ado about gangs, murder and violence...none of it amusing. Instead of being loaded with laffs, this serious sequel is burdened by messages. There are some cool clothes.