After the success of 2002’s Barbershop, the film spawned a mini-franchise – albeit one that went dormant for a fair amount of time. Barbershop II hit screens in 2004, the spinoff Beauty Shop appeared in 2005, and a short-lived Barbershop TV series aired that year as well.

Perhaps audiences got burned out from too much of a good thing, so the franchise took a break from 2005 until 2016’s Barbershop: The Next Cut, a tale that takes viewers back to Chicago to meet the inhabitants of Calvin’s Barbershop. At the fore remains owner Calvin Palmer Jr. (Ice Cube), as along with partner Angie (Regina Hall), he heads a crew of both male and female hairdressers.

While their camaraderie remains intact, Calvin feels the surrounding area has changed for the worse, as gangs present more of a threat. In the midst of various personal relationships experienced by Calvin and others, we see attempts to heal the community – and obstacles along the way.

If you check out the review of Barbershop linked above, you’ll notice that I didn’t write it – my old pal David Williams took on the title. This left Next Cut as my first direct glimpse of the Barbershop universe.

While it’s not ideal to enter a franchise with its fourth chapter, I think a good movie should be able to stand on its own – at least a sequel such as Next Cut. If this was a series that told one overarching narrative, I’d not hop into matters this late. For instance, it’d be idiotic to go into Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as my first view of the franchise.

But the “chapters” of the Barbershop series should be able to stand on their own – and I think Next Cut does. It manages to give us quick summary of the first three movies via a prologue, and that gives the neophyte the requisite background to get into its tale.

Unfortunately, what I see in Next Cut doesn’t make me eager to check out prior entries, as it provides an erratic affair. This doesn’t make it bad, but it falters too much of the time.

At its best, Next Cut offers a casual, funny experience. The actors flesh out their characters pretty well – especially Cedric the Entertainer as elderly barber Eddie. Sure, Eddie’s a cartoon character, but in Cedric’s hands, he’s a very amusing cartoon. Eddie seems to live in a less reality-based universe than most of the others, but Cedric is too funny for me to care.

While the comedy can work, Next Cut suffers from Tries Too Hard Disorder when it indulges in its serious side. I respect the movie’s attempts to promote social areas, but the film handles these elements in such a clumsy manner that they become a distraction.

Honestly, Next Cut often seems to grind to a halt to address these domains. It juxtaposes broad comedy and political lecturing in an awkward way and leans toward the pedantic side of the street. Scenes will take a sudden turn to allow characters to go into diatribe mode, and it rarely feels natural.

I don’t think Next Cut needed to be all laughs, all the time. However, it would’ve benefited from smoother integration of these two sides. The end result jumps from one area to another without the organic feel it needs.

The general incongruity of the narrative makes Next Cut erratic and inconsistent. Despite some good laughs, too much of it seems forced to present the necessary drama.

Barbershop: The Next Cut appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. This became a pleasant presentation.

Sharpness was almost always positive. A minor amount of softness crept into a couple of long shots, but otherwise the image remained tight and well-defined at all times. I noticed no issues with shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes failed to appear. Print flaws also failed to mar the presentation.

Next Cut went with an amber-influenced palette typical of the comedy genre. Within the movie’s color design, the tones seemed solid. Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows demonstrated nice smoothness. This was a consistently satisfying image.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix of Next Cut, it showed scope typical of the comedic soundfield. This meant a limited soundscape without much to make it stand out from the crowd. Street shots added a bit of immersiveness, and the barbershop environment felt right, but those instances didn’t give the mix a big boost. Most of the flick came with a lot of ambience and not much else, though music spread around the spectrum well.

Audio quality seemed good. Speech was distinctive and natural, without edginess or other issues. Music seemed warm and lush, while effects showed nice clarity and accuracy. Again, nothing about the mix impressed, but it suited the story.

A featurette called Barbershop Bootcamp runs four minutes, 34 seconds and includes barber Tariq Nevar, hair department head Belinda Anderson, hair stylist Vernice Samuels and actors Utharsh Ambudkar, Nicki Minaj, Margot Bingham, JB Smoove, Regina Hall, Common and Lamorne Morris. We see the hair-cutting training given to the actors. A few decent nuggets emerge but this remains a puffy piece overall.

Four Deleted Scenes fill a total of 12 minutes, 34 seconds. We find “Calvin and Rashad Recall Their Childhood”, “Jerrod Gets Advice About His ‘Girlfriend’”, “Jerrod Confronts Kayla and Meets Her Boyfriend”, and “The Freezer Scene”.

The Jerrod scenes would’ve added the most to the film, as they expand on the character. We don’t really need the information, but it gives Jerrod a bit more breadth. The other two have some amusing moments as well.

A Gag Reel lasts two minutes, 24 seconds. It mixes the usual goofs/giggles with some alternate lines. The latter make the reel better than average.

The disc opens with ads for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. No trailer for Cut shows up here.

When it sticks with comedy, Barbershop: The Next Cut entertains. However, its attempts at social relevance/drama feel forced and artificial. The Blu-ray offers very good picture as well as acceptable audio and minor supplements. Next Cut does enough to keep us with it, but it sputters more than I’d like.