Most of the hits of Ice Cube's acting career have spawned sequels, whether they're for families (Are We There Yet?), adults (the Friday series), or somewhere in between (Ride Along). Another of those in-between, PG-13 movies, Barbershop, became the biggest hit of Cube's filmography to date upon its release in September of 2002. MGM, hungry for a commercial success outside the James Bond franchise, quickly produced a sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, which opened merely 17 months later. A year after that, the studio released Beauty Shop, a female-driven spin-off comedy starring Queen Latifah. And though for a long time it seemed like that's where the saga would end, this year gave us Barbershop: The Next Cut, a third installment to the original franchise and fourth within this somewhat forgotten cinematic universe.

The Next Cut opens with a reminder of where Calvin's Barbershop is located: on the South Side of Chicago. The city, which is credited in opening narration by the shop's proprietor (Cube) for giving us Michael Jordan's Bulls and Oprah Winfrey, is going through some troubles due to intense gang warfare. Calvin's shop has a strict no-guns-allowed policy, making this longtime neighborhood establishment something of a refuge for residents, as long as members of rival gangs are scheduled to get their trims without running into one another.

Though Calvin and his fellow barbers, including crotchety old Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), Rashad (Common), outspoken Indian Raja (Utkarsh Ambudkar), and metrosexual Jerrod (Lamorne Morris), cut hair and share their space with female hair stylists like Angie (Regina Hall) and Bree (Margot Bingham), the real business going down again is conversation. These predominantly African American co-workers discuss systemic racism, presidential side chicks, Obama's performance in office, and the age-old divide between good girls and hoes.

As the gang violence persists right outside, Calvin and company vow to take the streets back with a 48-hour ceasefire that will raise money for charities and give free haircuts to all who want them. Getting rival gang members to agree, Calvin's shop attracts national attention for the stunt.

Additional subplots include: Calvin secretly plotting with One-Stop (J.B. Smoove) to sell his shop and open a new one on the safer North Side; Calvin's teenage son Jalen (Michael Rainey Jr.) getting mixed up with and recruited by one of those deadly gangs; and Rashad being suspected by his wife (Eve) of infidelity with the buxom and big-bottomed Draya (Nicki Minaj).

The Next Cut makes an admirable effort to be timely and relevant, addressing the issues of today and the problems facing Chicago. Unfortunately, it's not the most graceful at covering these topics. It's rather unreasonable to expect any comedy film to be adroit enough to juggle Instagram jokes and multiple twerking scenes with social commentary. Still, when compared to the other movies depicting the black community, like those of Tyler Perry, this is much easier to take seriously and to appreciate. The film is already dated, though, with its multiple sightings of now-former Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah as local athletes.

The untimeliness of this sequel's arrival did not seem to greatly harm it at the box office, where it grossed $54 million domestically on a modest budget of $20 M. This week, Warner Bros., who has been distributing most of the skeletal MGM's productions, brought The Next Cut to stores in separate DVD and Blu-ray editions. We look at the latter here.

Blu-ray Disc Details 1.78:1 Widescreen 5.1 DTS-HD MA (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Descriptive Video Service, French, Spanish, Portuguese) Subtitles: English for Hearing Impaired, French, Spanish, Portuguese Not Closed Captioned; Extras Subtitled Release Date: July 26, 2016 Suggested Retail Price: $29.98 Single-sided, dual-layered disc (BD-50) Blue Eco-Friendly Keepcase Also available on DVD ($28.98 SRP) and on Amazon Instant Video

VIDEO and AUDIO

Barbershop: The Next Cut may not have cost as much as many of its contemporaries, but the film still looks terrific on Blu-ray in a sharp and vibrant 1.85:1 transfer occupying every pixel available to the 1080p format. The 5.1 DTS-HD master audio soundtrack also capably gets the job done.

BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGN

This Blu-ray is equipped with three HD bonus features.

"The Next Cut: Barbershop Bootcamp" (4:34) looks at cast members learning to look like they know how to cut hair.

A reel of deleted scenes (12:34) prefaces each cut with remarks from director Malcolm D. Lee. The biggest cut is Jerrod confronting what he thought was his girlfriend and learning she thought he was gay.

Last, there is a gag reel (2:24) that preserves some of the cast's bloopers and banter.

The disc opens with a trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and a promo for digital movies.

The scored, static menu takes the common approach of adapting poster/cover art.

No combo pack means no slipcover for The Next Cut, whose eco-friendly blue keepcase holds your Digital HD with UltraViolet insert alongside the very plain-looking disc.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Barbershop: The Next Cut revives a dormant minor franchise to discuss the issues of today. Balancing relevance with comedy is hard, but the movie does an okay job of that without fully satisfying you. Warner's Blu-ray is simple yet satisfactory.

Buy Barbershop: The Next Cut from Amazon.com: Blu-ray + Digital HD / DVD / Instant Video