“Barbershop 2: Back in Business”

Directed By:

Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Starring:

Ice Cube

Cedric the Entertainer

MGM studios

Rated PG-13

116 minutes

Grade B

Perhaps one of the most difficult kinds of movie reviews to write is for a sequel (or as of late the third part of a trilogy). One must simultaneously take into account the preceding film and decide whether the sequel fits the mold set by its predecessor and yet the sequel in many ways should be able to stand on its own. “Barbershop 2: Back in Business,” the sequel to “Barbershop” (2002), was overall a pretty good sequel and movie in general.

Sequels that harbor a different cast and crew than the first make it difficult to compare the acting, directing and sometimes writing to the first release. In the movie world of heightened reality, it is risky to ask the audience to extend their normative range of believability past breaking point.

Luckily, this was not the case with “Barbershop 2.” Here we have virtually the same cast, playing the same roles. Ice Cube is Calvin, the owner of Calvin Jr’s Barbershop. Cedric the Entertainer is Eddie the politically incorrect ex-fugitive who doesn’t cut hair but enjoys his “free chair.” Eve plays the smack talking “barberess” Terri Jones.

Tom Story, the director of “Barbershop,” was an unknown at the time and has since established his directorial prowess so to speak. With fairly well-known director Kevin Rodney Sullivan (“How Stella Got her Groove Back”) taking the reigns for the sequel, the overall look and feel remained pretty much in tact. If the same director for the first cannot direct the second, it is at least a good idea to have a professional take over. In retrospect, it is almost always a mistake to allow a novice to try his hand where a professional has left off. Sequels are typically “hard sells” in the first place, so one must ensure the audience that they will remain in good hands.

The main difficulty that arises with “Barbershop 2” is that while intelligently maintaining the same cast of characters, the story doesn’t change all that much. A sequel is a continuation of the proceeding film, not a restructuring or rehashing of the same plot. Although it is a good idea to keep some of the themes from the first film intact and explore them further, the writer of a sequel must remember where the characters left off and from that starting point, rebuild for them an entirely new character arch.

At the end of “Barbershop” Calvin had learned that his inherited opportunity to own and operate his father’s barbershop was priceless and this instilled in him the notion that the shop (and its quirky occupants) was worth more than it’s weight in gold. In “Barbershop 2,” Calvin’s integrity is put to the test when the glamorous franchise Nappy Cutz is built across the street from his own humble shop.

The main conflict that is built upon in “Barbershop 2” is whether Calvin will sell out to the restructuring committee that is offering him a large sum of money to rebuild on his father’s property. Well, according to Calvin’s lesson garnered from the first movie, one can probably guess that Calvin will not sell out. Thus, there isn’t enough tension in the sequel due to the fact that the audience is already familiar with Calvin’s response to similar situations and the outcome of this response.

A problem that resounds in both of the “Barbershop” films is an overabundance of stereotypes. Ricky (Michael Ealy) is the quintessential thug trying to better himself. Terri (Eve) is the hardheaded female who is overcoming her experiences with abusive, deadbeat boyfriends. Gina (Queen Latifah) is the bent-necked busybody from next door who can dish out insults at the snap of her fingers. Even Eddie (Cedric) is supposedly an ex-con. Then there is Isaac “Slim Fadey” (Troy Garity), the white guy who is “rollin’ up” on everyone’s customers and claiming to be the best stylist there. It seems like we’ve seen all these characters before in different locations and different situations.

To conclude, “Barbershop” and “Barbershop 2” are indeed full of laughs. “Barbershop 2” in particular opens with a wonderful montage of black and white photos of our favorite African American icons donning different hair styles over the forever-changing decades. The key here is these opening visuals gave way to a mundane plot, featuring somewhat unchanging characters. Although poignant sociological commentary (many African Americans do indeed feel stuck in their situations), a movie is best when characters are forced to make change.