Just finished watching all three Taxi movies. I liked Taxi 1, 'meh'ed at Taxi 2, and (thinking that a trend has begun and that Taxi 3 would suck so bad), I found myself laughing a LOT at Taxi 3...
The jokes were funny and unexpected. The little throwaway gag of a policeman on a bicycle and his partner running beside him was made even funnier by how the politicians/ministers commented on it. Other jokes: The pregnancy test! The torture! The hidden 8 month pregnancy! Bai Ling! (actually, she wasn't too bad)
Acting seemed more natural or at least more in character in this movie. The caricatures of Daniel, Lilly and Emilien were better defined with a real sense of camaraderie between Daniel and Emilien. Their scenes together have them really playing off each other. I did notice a little "Are they JUST friends?" vibe in Taxi 2 and their "We're going from friends to Daddies together!" scene totally made fun of the homo eroticism (or whatever it was I imagined)!
Also, it was interesting how Lilly evolved from a 2D romantic interest in Taxi 1 to a phone-no-sex-buddy in Taxi 2 to a nagging but still loving girlfriend here (and she finally gets to sit in the TAXI!). The inspector just cracks me up with his soft, too-calm "Emilien" after the Santa Claus suit incident. This was so much funnier than a screaming "Emmmmeeeeellliienn!" And his key words! "Concertation. Reflexion. Action!" with the perfect gestures and arm-pumping motion. (Question: I thought the inspector hated all foreigners? So why the Bai Ling crush?) And who knew Alain (the token French black dude) was so funny! hehe, "I'm used to it." Funny facial expressions. Kinda glad they showed a little more of him in this film.
All three movies were very well paced for action comedies. Right number of laughs and heart stopping scenes! The actors seemed to have fun in this one and you can really feel it. I didn't even mind that Samy Naceri looks ridiculously old (since the first one where he was 37!) because he just IS cocky yet charming Daniel and no one else can replace him. If you have this on DVD, make sure to watch the "Making of" special feature because seriously, how does the car miss the little camera in the middle of the road?!
Video Games Influence: "Crazy Taxi" AND "Jet Grind Radio" (and a little bit of "Burnout") hee!
The jokes were funny and unexpected. The little throwaway gag of a policeman on a bicycle and his partner running beside him was made even funnier by how the politicians/ministers commented on it. Other jokes: The pregnancy test! The torture! The hidden 8 month pregnancy! Bai Ling! (actually, she wasn't too bad)
Acting seemed more natural or at least more in character in this movie. The caricatures of Daniel, Lilly and Emilien were better defined with a real sense of camaraderie between Daniel and Emilien. Their scenes together have them really playing off each other. I did notice a little "Are they JUST friends?" vibe in Taxi 2 and their "We're going from friends to Daddies together!" scene totally made fun of the homo eroticism (or whatever it was I imagined)!
Also, it was interesting how Lilly evolved from a 2D romantic interest in Taxi 1 to a phone-no-sex-buddy in Taxi 2 to a nagging but still loving girlfriend here (and she finally gets to sit in the TAXI!). The inspector just cracks me up with his soft, too-calm "Emilien" after the Santa Claus suit incident. This was so much funnier than a screaming "Emmmmeeeeellliienn!" And his key words! "Concertation. Reflexion. Action!" with the perfect gestures and arm-pumping motion. (Question: I thought the inspector hated all foreigners? So why the Bai Ling crush?) And who knew Alain (the token French black dude) was so funny! hehe, "I'm used to it." Funny facial expressions. Kinda glad they showed a little more of him in this film.
All three movies were very well paced for action comedies. Right number of laughs and heart stopping scenes! The actors seemed to have fun in this one and you can really feel it. I didn't even mind that Samy Naceri looks ridiculously old (since the first one where he was 37!) because he just IS cocky yet charming Daniel and no one else can replace him. If you have this on DVD, make sure to watch the "Making of" special feature because seriously, how does the car miss the little camera in the middle of the road?!
Video Games Influence: "Crazy Taxi" AND "Jet Grind Radio" (and a little bit of "Burnout") hee!