Taxi 2 (Subtitled) (Wide Screen) (DVD)

Taxi 2, the sequel to the original mad cap French driving antics of Taxi. And I'm pleased to announce to you all now, that it's absolutely no different. It's still madder, faster and packed with more tyre squealing than an entire years worth of Top Gear!

Nice to see the French are on form then!

Taxi 2 is rated as a '12' certificate, which you have to label as odd, as it seems to feature just as much, if not more swearing, ...
...above features are what 'make' taxi 2, and indeed, are the signature aspects of the 'taxi' lineage.

The cast is largely similar to that of the original taxi, with the ever cool Samy Naceri playing the role of racing/taxi driver Daniel Morales, who, due to his ever increasing speeding, is pulled into the police force to once again help his willing yet entirely useless friend, and police officer Émilien who is played very convincingly ... more

Taxi 2, the sequel to the original mad cap French driving antics of Taxi. And I'm pleased to announce to you all now, that it's absolutely no different. It's still madder, faster and packed with more tyre squealing than an entire years worth of Top Gear!

Nice to see the French are on form then!

Taxi 2 is rated as a '12' certificate, which you have to label as odd, as it seems to feature just as much, if not more swearing, random violence, and light drug use than the first. Although I have to say, the above features are what 'make' taxi 2, and indeed, are the signature aspects of the 'taxi' lineage.

The cast is largely similar to that of the original taxi, with the ever cool Samy Naceri playing the role of racing/taxi driver Daniel Morales, who, due to his ever increasing speeding, is pulled into the police force to once again help his willing yet entirely useless friend, and police officer Émilien who is played very convincingly by Frédéric Diefenthal.
As taxi has always been about making the viewer feel good, aside from the high octane action, there is of course, romance, with the 2 main characters juggling the catching of criminals, with the catching of their girls! Namely, Lilly (Daniel's girlfriend) who is played by Marion Cotillard and Petra (the leggy cop who Emilien bumbles around after) played by Emma Sjöberg. There are other characters in the film, nearly all of whom are either a) completely mad, or b) eccentric beyond words.

It's this madness in most of the characters that provides the basis for the slapstick French comedy, and I have to say that it works. Whilst this isn't a laugh a minute film that will have you rolling around on the floor for its 85 minute duration, it will certainly provide more than enough laughs to keep you thoroughly entertained, and even when you're not laughing, you'll be engrossed by the rubber burning car sequences, or the luvved up moments between the main characters.

Having said that it is not a laugh a minute film, on the many occasions when you will find yourself chocking on a pringle, or giggling at the madness, you will be doing so very very hard. There are bursts of comedic and film genius, no doubt instigated by the famous French writer Luc Besson who has taken the credit for many many successful French Films. These bursts of comedy can be simple things, such as the trademark speed camera scene in which a road side speed camera is actually blown over by the speed at which Daniels taxi was travelling!. Or they can be completely outrageous, such as the breathtaking police crash scene, that sees over 30 police cars collide to the background tunes of soft French accordion music!!!, like I said, its total madness at times, and has to be seen to be believed.

The other major aspect aside from the comedy is of course the driving. The star of the film is Daniels seemingly normal Peugeot taxi, that (with the flick of a few buttons) converts into a be-spoiled alloy wearing race monster - still complete with taxi roof sign! The end result is a car that looks like it means business, and this is backed up by some truly stunning driving. The chase scenes are amazing, and leave you gasping for breath as you follow the car once again miss an oncoming car by merely inches. It is these on road scenes that stun the most, with amazing camera work sitting hand in hand with amazing driving, the large majority of which was actually provided by real rally drivers.

Onto the nitty gritty. As you may be away by now, the film is French, and as such has been provided with English subtitles, so the action can be enjoyed by those who don't have an expert knowledge of the French language. On the whole these are very good, and if you watch the film a couple of times, you really can pick up some key phrases. Above all however they do their job, as the gags are easy to understand, and the dialogue is easy to follow.

Finally, the extras. Now, taxi is not some high budget epic, so you can't really expect to have loads of extras. It would seem that most of the budget from putting this thing onto UK DVD has been the translation, although you do get a nice animated & scored menu, the full trailer, a cast & crew filmography and a really nice making of documentary that shows how some of the key scenes in the film were produced. All very nice you have to admit.

All in all then, Taxi is a great film, there's no denying it. It provides such a refreshing departure from the American drivel we get these days, whilst at the same time, showing that us Europeans can blow up and crash stuff too! It is a bit of a blokey film, but there's certainly more than enough content in there to appeal to anyone on at least some levels.

So grab a tub of Pringles, put the cat out, and order that take away, because Taxi 2 can provide a really entertaining night in.

Thanks for reading
Tom 

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