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Barbershop 2 - Back in Business (2004)

tomatometer

68

Average Rating: 6.3/10
Reviews Counted: 123
Fresh: 84 | Rotten: 39

The humor is less sharp and more warm-hearted this time around, and the characters are enjoyable to revisit.

68

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 11

The humor is less sharp and more warm-hearted this time around, and the characters are enjoyable to revisit.

audience

57

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 71,582

My Rating

Movie Info

Kevin Rodney Sullivan steps in to direct the urban comedy sequel Barbershop 2: Back in Business. The whole gang -- Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), Jimmy James (Sean Patrick Thomas), Terri (Eve), Isaac (Troy Garity), Ricky (Michael Ealy), and Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze) -- are still there in the same old barbershop in the south side of Chicago. Owner Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) tries to keep his family business alive in order to pass it on to his own son one day. However, the beloved neighborhood

PG-13, 1 hr. 46 min.

Comedy

Don D. Scott

Jun 29, 2004

$65.0M

MGM

Cast

All Critics (125) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (86) | Rotten (41) | DVD (22)

Provides enough solid, character-based amusement to put customers in the chairs and send them out content with services rendered.

March 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This sequel is overstaffed with a cast that's underserved by Don D. Scott's schematic script and Kevin Rodney Sullivan's crude direction.

February 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Boston Globe | Comment
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

[A]s funny as the original.

February 13, 2004 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Like going out for a bad meal with a group of people you love being with. You're happy to be in their company; you just wish you didn't leave feeling hungry.

February 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Heartstrings will be tugged and ribs tickled, particularly thanks to Cedric the Entertainer.

February 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a warm, often funny reunion of the sassiest, chattiest characters ever to buzz a brother's head.

February 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Great message delivered in an edgy hip-hop movie.

September 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

I could barely get over how I would have rather been watching the first film than this.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment
Cinema Crazed

It's the kind of set-piece ensemble that has proven immensely successful as a sitcom formula but tends to struggle to meet the demands of a movie.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

Schoolyard jokes about religious faiths, genetic traits, and sexuality which only work if you enjoy laughing at people because they are darker-skinned, or curlier-haired, or perverted, or have emigrated from another continent.

April 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Princeton Town Topics | Comment
Princeton Town Topics

Inane banter soon takes over and is not helped by an unlikely, flashback-heavy subplot about Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) and a lost love.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

It ain't high art, but it is a fun flick.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

Barbershop 2 is a weak, too rarely humorous, too long bore.

October 7, 2004 Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | Comment

This time it's all about story--a clichéd plot that settles into dull familiarity shortly after the promising high-energy pre-title and title sequences

August 13, 2004 Comment
Reel.com

The red, white, and blue barber's pole is getting a little rusty, but fans of the wholesome franchise probably couldn't care less.

June 12, 2004 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

The banter is tighter and funnier, and Calvin's musings on the importance of community seem more heartfelt.

May 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

This smart, feisty comedy is still ghetto-fabulous enough to make you laugh until your short, back and sides ache.

April 20, 2004 Full Review Source: BBC | Comment

A direct hit on Jesse Jackson.

April 17, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Snobs | Comment
Film Snobs

Both films are flawed and unfocused. Both have thin plots that must rely on even thinner back-stories to flesh out a feature length film.

April 7, 2004 Full Review Source: IGN Movies | Comment
IGN Movies
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Barbershop 2 - Back in Business

Not as good as the others but this is far better.

May 20, 2007
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

Not nearly as good as the first one.

Godless

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Barbershop 2 (DE)
  • Barbershop 2 Back in Business (UK)
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