Barbershop 2: Back in Business
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation (MGM) | Release Date: February 6, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Barbershop 2 makes you want to know what happens next. In its own way, it's the Ivory Soap of sequels: 99 and 44/100% pure. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Smart enough to hook us with the best thing it has going: Cedric the Entertainer's gruffly uproarious and lived-in performance as Eddie. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
An even richer, smarter, funnier sequel. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's a warm, often funny reunion of the sassiest, chattiest characters ever to buzz a brother's head. You'll like this one more than you'd expect. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Director Kevin Rodney Sullivan (How Stella Got Her Groove Back) and editor Paul Seydor serve it up beautifully. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Less cartoonish and more generous than the original. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Just as sharply funny and as heartwarming, yet unsentimental, as the first. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Emphasizes the best element of the first one -- the half-kidding, insult-filled conversations around the shop -- and doesn't need to spend time introducing us to the characters. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
He may be a barber, but by saving the community one strand at a time, Calvin is the heir apparent to populist banker George Bailey of "It's a Wonderful Life." Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
A warmhearted and surprisingly ambitious sequel. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
There's nothing offensive about Barbershop 2, and maybe there should be. But even if the film plays it safe, it remains a cut above other mainstream comedies. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Has a rollicking time reaching its foreseeable conclusion. Read full review
70
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
What separates Calvin and Eddie from the typical comic hero -- and each "Barbershop" movie from the standard yuk-fest -- is that these folks know how to back up all the hot air with meaningful action. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Pleasing blend of humor, sentiment and commentary. Read full review
70
Film ThreatKevin Carr
It ain’t high art, but it is a fun flick. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
This time around, the razors are a little duller, the clicks not as slick, the patter not as snappy. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Did I like the film? Yeah, kinda, but not enough to recommend. The first film arrived with freshness and an unexpected zing, but this one seems too content to follow in its footsteps. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Think of it as "Cheers" without the beer, or "Friends'" Central Perk with razors and sharper dialogue. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
A calculating crowd-pleaser that sometimes feels like a movie equivalent of the corporate chains it's decrying. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Ice Cube is so genial and laid back it's hard to believe he's the same snarling thug who ass-kicks his way through action pictures, let alone the seethingly angry rapper who emerged from NWA in the early 1990s. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This sequel ups the ante, asking whether urban renewal means anything now other than turning neighborhoods into giant malls. Read full review
60
EmpireNick De Semlyen
This time the banter is tighter and funnier, and Calvin’s musings on the importance of community seem more heartfelt. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The first "Barbershop" was no classic but, as so often with sequels, if this were the first there would be no second. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Intermittently funny, and at times even affecting, but its drama veers into soap-opera territory, and its comedy too often reeks of sitcom laziness. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Funny and expands our background knowledge of these likable characters, but the story gets bogged down. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Queen Latifah, as the proprietor of the ­lady's salon next door to Calvin's, brightens things up in the brief appearances that serve as symbiotic promotion for the producers' coming spin-off movie, "Beauty­ Shop." Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The material is hardly original, but the moment is affecting all the same.
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Takes a dedicated and true snapshot of African-American life. But so little of its presentation is memorable. This is a haircut movie that redefines ''fade.'' Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It’s feels like the New Puritanism (recently repped by the outcry over Janet Jackson’s "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl) is seeping in. But in the barbershop? Say it isn’t so. Read full review
50
SalonCharles Taylor
Barbershop 2 is 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. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A less raucous and more serious-minded neighborhood comedy than its entertaining predecessor. Read full review
50
PremiereKelly Borgeson
The sequel to 2003's unexpected and rousing hit offers a lot of the same elements that made the original so enjoyable, but the humor doesn't have the same freshness. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Given the stature and the presence that the entrepreneurial rappers-turned-film-moguls Ice Cube and Queen Latifah possess, the fizzle of their scenes is doubly disappointing. Read full review
30
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Cube is still adorable, but the potentially poppin' battle between the shop and big-box competitor Nappy Cuts gets obscured by sloppy chronology and flat, cartoonish politicos. Read full review
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