Are we sure it's been 12 years since the last Barbershop sequel? In the
case of Barbershop: The Next
Cut, the third film in the franchise or fourth if you want to include
spinoff Beauty Shop, it
doesn't feel as if any time has passed at all. That's a remarkable feat given
all of the lousy comedy sequels of late, many of which separated from their
predecessors by more than a decade. But with Barbershop,
it succeeds by staying focused on the core values that have made these movies
so beloved and successful: faith, family, and community.
And right away it's clear that 'The Next
Cut' is going to be more topical than before, acting as a response to the gun
violence plaguing Chicago. While this may seem like well-worn territory in the
wake of Spike Lee's Chi-Raq,
it delivers its message of non-violence through comforting jokes and freshly
cut hair rather than elaborate rhyming verse. Another reason it doesn't
feel as if any time has passed is that most of the cast is back, looking and
acting much the same as before. Ice Cube returns as Calvin, whose barbershop
remains a pillar of the Chicago community. He's always weighed down by some
hardship or other, and in this case he's worried about the safety of his son,
Jalen (Michael Rainey Jr.), who is beginning to see the allure of the gangster
lifestyle. Shaggy, motormouthed veteran Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) is still
flappin' his gums more than he cuts actual hair. His observations are as
pinpoint and controversial as ever, whether they be on the fairer sex, Barack
Obama, or the inevitable Bill Cosby crack.
Like Eddie, many of the characters seem to
be in the same place they've always been, but a few have taken some interesting
forward steps. Angie (Regina Hall, rockin' a mean blue-haired look) is now part
owner, with her beauty shop occupying half the space and doubling the tension.
The perpetually hard-working Terri (Eve) is now married to the soulful Rashad
(Common, making his first appearance in the series), but their marriage is
troubled and he's caught the eye of bootylicious stylist, Dreya (Nicki Minaj). If
anything, the Barbershop movies
have done a lot to promote rapper/actor careers, and they all have fit in well,
probably due to the loose, laid back atmosphere. Other new additions fit right
in, such as JB Smoove as the shady, enterprising One-Stop; New Girl's Lamorne Morris as
the nerdy Jarrod; Utkarsh Ambudkar as cool Indian barber, Raja; and Margot
Bingham makes a mighty impression as Bree, the resident feminist sista.
Each has their own subplot going on, and
the screenplay often struggles to keep up with them. The same goes for
returning director Malcolm D. Lee, who has an understandable amount of
difficulty keeping track of a dozen characters holding court in the same room.
While some of these subplots don't work (like Anthony Anderson's shady food truck
business), when these characters are allowed to just riff off one another the
film is a laugh riot because much of what they say rings true. Barbershop cultivated a
certain chemistry right from the very beginning and it has never gone away,
even as characters come and go. So when the gang makes fun of Eddie for being
old and useless, it doesn't feel mean-spirited, but the gentle ribbing all
friends give one another. 
That familiarity also makes the painful
moments sting just a little bit more, and no matter how much fun is being had,
we're always pulled back into Chicago's grim reality. As well intentioned as
the gang violence plot may be, it often makes for a clumsy and heavy-handed fit
for a film that clearly wants to make you laugh first. Every time we catch up
with Jalen it's like being slapped in the face with a dead fish; you just want
to go back to the warming embrace of the barbershop where people are busy jonin
on one another. But even that get messed up by a couple of violent
blow-ups right under Calvin's roof, leading him to make a fateful and sobering
decision to protect his son's future. 
It's interesting to think back to where
Ice Cube was 20 years ago. Not only was he embroiled in a vicious rap feud with
Common (check out Common's diss track, "Bitch in Yoo" where he
absolutely crushes Cube), but he was starring in Boyz n the Hood, one of the first films to really
bring the issue of gang violence to a broader audience. Many of the same
themes and simple solutions then are made in Barbershop:
The Next Cut, only now Cube is about as far away from Doughboy as anyone
could have ever imagined. In that film, it would have been inconceivable
for the President of the United States to come walking into South Central. But
now, the first African-American President (or a reasonable facsimile) can
stroll right into Calvin's Chicago barbershop; get a fresh cut and a chance at
some side booty. In a way, that sounds a lot like progress.
Rating: 3 out of 5
