The Scene
With Barbershop, Ice Cube must have hit the spot between Bill Cosby comedy and the edginess that the younger set looks for in their comedies. How else do you explain the two 60+ guys buying tickets for the movie, looking like they've been friends since.. well since the barbershops that are characterized here were the cornerstone of the hood. Right behind them are teenagers, people on dates and there I was sitting down and an older woman comes barreling through the row with a bag of popcorn. Everybody is going to the barbershop.
For the record, I've given up on barbershops. Give me two pair of clippers, one for the top one, for the outline and it's snip and tuck, no one knows the difference. Trinidadian chick on the phone: "What are you doing?" Me: "I'm bout to cut my hair." Chick: "When are you leaving?" Me: "Leaving? I'm gonna cut it myself." Chick: "What? You gonna mess it up, don't do that." Me: "I always cut it myself." Chick: "No wonder it's all slanted to the side. Haha.. I'm just playing."
Really, she sounded surprised and said I do a good job, but who wants to hear that.
Neighborhood barbershops are still the place to get your news and views, sports and hook-ups from I just got tired of running down to the shop before it closes and then sit for a half-hour to get it done. Sometimes I stop in, just to see how things are going and the guy that cuts my hair looks and says.. "Where you been? I haven't seen you for three months." Now, I'm feeling guilty, so I tell him I've been hanging out with another pair of clippers. Which is true.. when he wasn't there I would run across the street to another barbershop. They are in heated competition for business and these two shops are like night and day, which is a theme Barbershop 2 picks up on.
My Opinion
The Friday sequels had the potential to be classic material, but without Chris Tucker it just wasn't (and isn't) the same; it's just a bunch of jokes and a few laughs here and there. Luckily in Barbershop 2, Cube was able to keep the same cast and expand on the characters. When the movies starts it's like you know what everybody's about and what they do. All that's necessary is a decent story.
And this time around, the jokes are funnier and Cedric is on another level. The movies begins with a flashback of a young Cedric running from the cops and ending up in the barbershop. Basically telling how he came to work there. There is also a piece about him meeting a woman on the train; it adds a nice touch cause in the process you get some background on how the shop came to be there throughout the years and tells something about the guy that talks smack all day, but barely cuts any hair. Cedric is the Chris Tucker of this flick, without him the laughs would be little to non-existent. Since he's in the house though, there's no need to worry cause he will have you falling out of your seat.
In the barbecue scene, where he throws the little girl's burger over his shoulder and runs away talking about she's going to get her aunt.. Cedric says 'Go on back to the crack house and get her." I literally kneeled over and got hit in the head by the person in front of me who was laughing and rocking back and forth, no problem. The shit was funny. When the girl returns that's where the big snap scene between Latifah and Cedric happens, which was funnier than what's shown in the reviews.
Eve's character isn't as loud at the mouth as before, screaming about her apple juice. But she gets some thug love. And got damn, she has definitely grown in more ways than one. Just looking thickalicious... even though she has a tiny nose.
Kennan from Nickelodeon fame is introduced as the new kid in the shop; he represents that barber that's always ready to cut hair, but even with a full shop.. can't get anyone to sit down. "Yo, you wanna get a cut homie." "Nah, I'm waiting on him." Two hours later, he's still twiddling his thumbs trying to keep busy and stay positive. Eventually someone new to the shop sits down and everyone is feeling sorry for the guy. It takes a long time to build up the trust level that's required to touch a dude's fade.
The underlying story is about gentrification and the way the people and personality of neighborhoods are changed when big businesses roll into town. Ice Cube gives a speech to the city council at the end of the movie that puts it all in perspective. On another level what it comes down to is heart and true love for what you do being the secret ingredient of success. It's not the only thing, but it can give you an edge against any soulless conglomerate.
It's easy to see this extending into Barbershop 3, but that will most likely be determined by te success of Latifah's spinoff movie Beauty Shop, which will be released later this year. They never did say how she moved in next door. If that movie is wack, it's gonna cheapen the whole concept and make a third sequel unnecessary. For now, Barbershop 2 gets..
Three and a half sticks of hot melted butter.
- CG
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