Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016)

I was really expecting more from this movie. The story seems to be written by a 10 year old, i got the feeling that most of the actions in the movie happened only to fill the 2hrs, they had the main idea but that would be only 40 min "let's add some useless actions to make the movie longer", none of the actors seemed to enjoy being in the movie, the acting was correct but with no passion and dedication to the role they were playing, it looked very fake.

"Barbershop used to be a place of peace." Chicago is in a bad way. The violence has begun to take over and it finally hits the area around Calvin's (Cube) barbershop. When Calvin's son becomes involved in gang violence he has to once again wonders if the best course of action for his family is to close the shop. This series has been very strange. The first one was funny but didn't think it needed a sequel. The second one was really bad and I didn't like it at all. This one though I thought was the best of all 3. That being said that all pretty much have the same plot. This one has nothing all that original and the movie is fairly predictable but the reason to watch isn't for the plot. This movie has a great and very timely message. It was a little strange to see the guy responsible for F the Police to have such a strong anti-violence movie…but that actually adds a little to the impact of it. Overall, the best of the series with one of the best messages of any movie in the last few years. I actually recommend this for that, and the laughs. I give this a B.

I admit to being a fan of both the Barbershop series and Ice Cube or at least the Ice Cube I've seen in a few movies. I can't say I personally know the man. This is, again, a combination of in store banter, which is by far the most entertaining aspect of the movie, a bit of personal issues with families outside the shop and again, like in #2, addressing larger social issues which face the US. The banter is great. The personal issues are rather mundane - you've seen them all before done as well as here. The social issues will split the audience. The Big Question comes up: what to do about black on black violence which in Chicago (the setting) claims maybe a dozen lives a week. Sadly, the movie takes the easy road blaming slavery and citing as heroes Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. These are heroes to the black community? Two thugs? Well, that's the way many see things including Cube, apparently. Still, in the end, an enjoyable feel good movie which paradoxically portrays black folks not as typical Hollywood caricatures, but as humans. That alone is worth the price of admission.

My review is on Barbershop: The Next Cut. This movie is sort of a reunion for the old cast of the original barbershop with the addition of a few new characters. I would give this movie an 8/10 because although the new Barbershop will never be better than the original the plot and story of the new one was still pretty good. I would recommend anyone who has never seen this movie before see it As Soon As Possible, some of the new additions to the cast was Tyga, a known rapper, and the beautiful Nicki Minaj who can be considered one of the hottest and most popular icons of the music industry right now. Overall this was a great movie which is why I will give it an 8/10