TB4000
02-08-2004, 09:28 PM
Barbershop 2 Barely Makes the Cut(yes, that's a pun)
When your first movie production cost single digit millions to make, and grosses $100 million plus, your first thought is never, “since we did so well with our first outing, let’s go out on top, leave ‘em wanting more.” No, no, no…this is show business, my friend. You make that kind of a profit on a flick; you pull out all the stops and begin work on the sequel, especially if the former flick is still in the theatres bringing in that lucre. Barbershop is one of those rare films, a movie I felt I could relate to more so than much of the crap that they dare to release nowadays, a movie that was the African-American equivalent of My Big Fat Enormous Mind-Boggling Successful Greek Wedding. The producers knew they had a hit and potential franchise on their hands, as is proven with the fact that not only did they release the sequel entitled Barbershop 2, but introduced Queen Latifah’s character as an inside for her own spin-off called Beauty Shop(to quote Seinfeld, “who are the ad wizards who came up with that one?”)
Barbershop 2 returns us to that tiny shop on the south side of Chicago, owned by the good natured yet frustrated Calvin(Ice Cube), who not only has to deal with the trials and tribulations of business ownership, but his own bizarre employees day after day. Instead of just rehashing the characters from part one; the screenplay does a good job of updating them, as if they’ve really grown over the past couple of years. Jimmy(Sean Patrick Thomas), the self proclaimed intellectual of the group, now works in the world of political affairs alongside a shady alderman, Isaac(Troy Garity), the lone white barber, has now become a local celebrity, with dudes from all over the area lining up to get lined up by the master. Terri, played by Eve, who had somewhat of an anger management problem in the first movie, has taken to more peace-oriented tactics in order to control her anger, most of which stems from Michael Ealy’s thug-gone-good character Ricky and Dinka(Leonard Howze), the perpetually cheerful African member of the group.
The only member of the gang that hasn’t seemed to change at all is Eddie, played with the same hilarious intensity and marble mouthed vocals by Cedric the Entertainer as he did in the earlier film. His goal is to merely point out the foibles of our society, whether it be Bill and Monica’s intern BJ, R. Kelly’s sex tapes, or biracial people in entertainment claiming one race over another. Though none of them really matches the infamous Rosa Parks/MLK/Jesse Jackson spiel, Eddie still manages to get a few jabs in at our world’s most elite.
The plot, which is basically a spin on the “new, expensive competition rival” storyline, is nothing more than a backdrop for the characters, truth be told. Unfortunately, the dialogue and debates aren’t as intense this time around, and the movie tends to drag when it gets serious, particularly when Calvin has to deal with political issues and the like. Though the flashback scenes featuring Eddie’s origin story done in black and white are almost spot-on.
Barbershop 2 made 25 million dollars this past weekend, so obviously it has more than enough of a following. It was nowhere as good as the original, though it’s definitely a nice little diversion. All we can do now is wait a couple years for the release of Barbershop 3, and be shocked and expectant all at once.
When your first movie production cost single digit millions to make, and grosses $100 million plus, your first thought is never, “since we did so well with our first outing, let’s go out on top, leave ‘em wanting more.” No, no, no…this is show business, my friend. You make that kind of a profit on a flick; you pull out all the stops and begin work on the sequel, especially if the former flick is still in the theatres bringing in that lucre. Barbershop is one of those rare films, a movie I felt I could relate to more so than much of the crap that they dare to release nowadays, a movie that was the African-American equivalent of My Big Fat Enormous Mind-Boggling Successful Greek Wedding. The producers knew they had a hit and potential franchise on their hands, as is proven with the fact that not only did they release the sequel entitled Barbershop 2, but introduced Queen Latifah’s character as an inside for her own spin-off called Beauty Shop(to quote Seinfeld, “who are the ad wizards who came up with that one?”)
Barbershop 2 returns us to that tiny shop on the south side of Chicago, owned by the good natured yet frustrated Calvin(Ice Cube), who not only has to deal with the trials and tribulations of business ownership, but his own bizarre employees day after day. Instead of just rehashing the characters from part one; the screenplay does a good job of updating them, as if they’ve really grown over the past couple of years. Jimmy(Sean Patrick Thomas), the self proclaimed intellectual of the group, now works in the world of political affairs alongside a shady alderman, Isaac(Troy Garity), the lone white barber, has now become a local celebrity, with dudes from all over the area lining up to get lined up by the master. Terri, played by Eve, who had somewhat of an anger management problem in the first movie, has taken to more peace-oriented tactics in order to control her anger, most of which stems from Michael Ealy’s thug-gone-good character Ricky and Dinka(Leonard Howze), the perpetually cheerful African member of the group.
The only member of the gang that hasn’t seemed to change at all is Eddie, played with the same hilarious intensity and marble mouthed vocals by Cedric the Entertainer as he did in the earlier film. His goal is to merely point out the foibles of our society, whether it be Bill and Monica’s intern BJ, R. Kelly’s sex tapes, or biracial people in entertainment claiming one race over another. Though none of them really matches the infamous Rosa Parks/MLK/Jesse Jackson spiel, Eddie still manages to get a few jabs in at our world’s most elite.
The plot, which is basically a spin on the “new, expensive competition rival” storyline, is nothing more than a backdrop for the characters, truth be told. Unfortunately, the dialogue and debates aren’t as intense this time around, and the movie tends to drag when it gets serious, particularly when Calvin has to deal with political issues and the like. Though the flashback scenes featuring Eddie’s origin story done in black and white are almost spot-on.
Barbershop 2 made 25 million dollars this past weekend, so obviously it has more than enough of a following. It was nowhere as good as the original, though it’s definitely a nice little diversion. All we can do now is wait a couple years for the release of Barbershop 3, and be shocked and expectant all at once.