Review of Barbershop 2: Back In Business

Introduction

As soon as the first film came out, there was much talk of a sequel. I missed the first film, but a quick glance at the details for it suggest that I didn`t miss much. This film would seem to follow on where the first left off, with the aforementioned shop still going strong, but now facing new threats from a competitor across the road, with a few stabs at capitalism/modernisation thrown in along the way.

Will the evil property developer succeed in buying up the whole neighbourhood, or will they rally round and defeat these evil ones? Well, you know the answer before sitting down don`t you? Ok, so there might be a few concessions along the way, but by simply doing what they`ve been doing best for 40 years we just know that the competition will be rode out of town by our plucky heroes.

Video

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer which looks very nice indeed. As you would expect for such a recent film it all looks very clean and tidy and all traces of damage and dirt are absent. Detail levels are good and colours are nice and vivid when needed, and fall back to nicely understated the rest of the time.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack, which is again as you would expect for a new film. A few nice ambient sounds appear in crowded scenes, and there`s the odd one or two when outside, but this is mostly a track for dialogue and music. Lots of music which always sounds good, and plenty of dialogue which is always clean and crisp.

Features

Another very passable extras package.

First up we have the commentary track featuring director Kevin Sullivan, as well as producers Bob Teitel and George Tillman Jr. It`s not a bad track overall, and they seem to have fun talking about the film and working on it. But as with so many of these things there are some annoying gaps. A reasonable track if you enjoyed the film, and maybe still worth a go if not.

Lots of deleted scenes are available, and it`s easy to see why most were deleted. Thankfully you can "Play All" so you don`t have to keep popping back to the menu every 30 seconds (something that always annoys me about deleted scenes). There`s also the option to have each scene introduced by cast members who tell you a little about each one.

There`s also an out-takes section, and this was very amusing. Your usual collection of missed cues, naughty ad-libs and bodged lines, but still something to raise a few laughs.

Next up we have music videos - Mary J. Bilge (ooh sorry it`s Blige isn`t it?) featuring Eve, and Sleepy Brown featuring Outkast. Both tracks are ok and fit in well with the film, but the aspect ratio on the Sleepy Brown video looks all wrong to me.

Finally we have the usual photo gallery and trailers section. Yawn.

Conclusion

Amusing in places, dull and predictable in others, but I`m surprised that this is a 12. Obviously they are trying to appeal to an audience in that age bracket, but some of the conversations and situations are definitely above 12. Perhaps they are hoping that it will just sail over the heads of many 12 year olds. And maybe they`re hoping that those 12 year olds aren`t too familiar with the previous musical work of star Ice Cube. That could cause a few embarrassing moments for parents asked to buy NWA albums for their kids. "Do what to the police dear?"

There`s also a feel of setting up a franchise and some spin offs here, as there are some characters and situations that just screaming out "spin off, I`m getting my own vehicle". I`m looking at you Queen Latifah.

This is beginning to sound too negative. Ok, I did enjoy the film and it was mildly amusing, but the whole preachy "big corporations bad, family business good" thing is a bit old hat, even to a Starbucks-hater like me.

A nice DVD overall with excellent picture and good sound combined with some reasonable extras (even though they are as shallow as a puddle). The film might appeal to some, but for most it will just pass you harmlessly by.