Cast:
Ice Cube as Calvin Palmer
Cedric the Entertainer as Eddie
Eve as Terri Jones
Sean Patrick Thomas as Jimmy James
Troy Garity as Isaac Rosenberg
Michael Ealy as Ricky Nash
Leonard Earl Howze as Dinka
Harry Lennix as Quentin Leroux
Kenan Thompson as Kenard
Queen Latifah as Gina
Story:
Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) no longer has money troubles like in the first film, but that may change (and so is the neighborhood ) as a discount haircut place opens up across the street and we find out that the entire neighborhood is in danger of losing its identity to a money hungry corporation that is closing down all the family owned businesses.
What Worked:
The opening credits of all the classic hair styles of years past was nicely done. Good graphics of places come and gone sets up the story well.
All the characters are back and it was like seeing old friends, the chemistry was still there and now that you know them all, you laugh even harder at the “Barbershop talk”.
Getting to see the origin of Eddies character (Cedric the Entertainer) and why he doesn’t have to pay rent was the highlight of the film for me. Seeing the riots only from the point of view of the barbershop was a very interesting and looks so realistic.
Making the film different from the first had pros and cons for me. I am referring to going out in the neighborhood instead of staying in the shop. It was good to branch out and not make the film the same and rehashing.
Kenan Thompson is a great addition to the cast.
I never wanted the barbershop bantering to end. They may have even gotten more controversial than they did in the first one but its even more funny.
Cedric steals every scene he is in.
What Didn’t Work:
I found Queen Latifah to be distracting in her very small role. There was nothing for her to do.
On the con part of making the film different, I never want them to leave the barbershop. When they did, I felt the story lagged.
Calvin makes a speech at the end that I thought was way over the top.
The bad guys were a little cardboard-ish.
Changing Eve’s character Terri or should I say letting us see a different side of her didn’t work for me. I like Terri from the fist one.
Bottom Line
Most of the critics that saw it with me said it was better than the first one. I disagree. I liked it the same amount. No more. But I liked Barbershop a lot. Very funny and touching. If you liked the first one you will not be disappointed. As I said before, its good to see old friends, especially ones that make you laugh.
