The Barbershop film series had a trend. Barbershop...good. Barbershop 2: Back in Business...not so good. Beauty Shop (I didn't even realize this was a spin-off of Barbershop and considered a third installment of the series)... could have done without it. With this declining trend, and over a decade passing since the last one, I didn't expect much from Barbershop: The Next Cut. I mean each installment of the film series was worse than the last one, so much time has passed, and it's a sequel! Not many series can pull off a fourth installment, and certainly not one whose last two weren't good.
So imagine my surprise when I discovered this was the best installment of the ENTIRE series! Now I'll admit, I haven't watched the original in a long time. But I'm pretty confident Barbershop: The Next Cut comes out on top between the two. I would rank it: Barbershop: Next Cut, Barbershop, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and then if we must Beauty Shop.
The film managed to perfectly mesh together comedy and drama. And though I went in thinking to myself, of all the sequels that were completed in April why couldn't it have been The Best Man Wedding, which was announced to come out at the end of this month (no longer the case) and had a great sequel with The Best Holiday. Well, the director of Barbershop: Next Cut, Malcolm D. Lee, was the writer and director of both The Best Man and The Best Holiday! In addition, the film had different writers than the past installments, Kenya Barris (Black-ish, The Game) and Tracy Oliver (Survivor's Remorse). Now, had I known all of this, I probably would have had much higher expectations for the film, but it was a pleasant surprise!
Lamorne Morris (New Girl), as Jerrod, and Deon Cole (Black-ish), as Dante, really carried the comedy in my opinion and did a heck of a job at it! J.B. Smoove's character, One-Stop, was also pretty funny. His character could have easily crossed over into corny and/or annoying territory, but it never did. Cedric the Entertainer, as Eddie, was pretty funny, though I think Jerrod and Dante brought in a fresher comedy, only because Eddie has been done already in the first two films. I especially liked how Jerrod was a somewhat nerdy, techie, march to the beat of his own drum character. I always appreciate representations of African-Americans that show our diversity. Regina Hall's character, Angie, was a more serious character than expected. I could have done without Anthony Anderson's character. It didn't really add to the film, beyond having Anthony Anderson in the film.
The returning cast members included Ice Cube (as Calvin), Cedrick the Entertainer (as Eddie), Sean Patrick Thomas (as Jimmy), Eve (as Terri), and Jazsmin Lewis (as Jennifer). Michael Ealy didn't return, but the new eye candy and love interest of Terri's (her husband), is Rashad (played by Common). The pair, Terri and Rashad, are in a rocky stint of their marriage with Rashad's son moving in and Draya (played by Nicki Minaj) trying to get with Rashad every chance she gets. Knowing Nicki attended a performing arts school, and has portrayed several characters throughout her music career, I wasn't surprised by her acting ability in the film (though her first scene or two were a little rocky). Another returning cast member was Isaac (played by Troy Garity), the White barber in the first installment, and he was Calvin's first customer in this film. In lieu of a White barber, this time there's an Indian barber, Raja (Utkarsh Ambudkar). He had some funny moments, as well as the almost obligatory scene where he tests the boundaries of what he can and cannot say about Black people.
Now, the focal point of the story (outside of the Draya/Rashad/Terri partial love triangle) was the gang violence in Chicago, which centered around two main storylines. Calvin's son, Jalen (Michael Rainey Jr.) and Rashad's son, Kenny (Diallo Thompson), are being recruited by a neighborhood gang, mostly by Yummy (Tyga). The storyline following the two boys, and Calvin's relationship with Jalen, was well done and successfully carried a serious tone without feeling like a separate movie. It was interwoven well with the rest of the film, as was the storyline between the two rival gang leaders, Marquis (played by Jamal Woolard, Notorious) and Jay (played by Renell Gibbs). When these two encountered each other in the barbershop, it was always tense and confrontational! I wasn't sure how the film would manage to pull off the comedy side of the Barbershop series and deal with such a serious topic as gang violence, but I think it handled both very well.
Great story, great acting, and mostly great characters (still don't think it needed Anthony Anderson's character). I highly recommend you go check it out and support it this weekend!