Film

Taxi 2 (2000)

Director: Gérard Krawczyk

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This sequel to the French car chase caper is a little more streamlined, the jerky comic-book pacing of the original replaced by a smoother narrative ride. That said, scriptwriter Besson and director Krawczyk have tweaked rather than redesigned the plot engine, so it's essentially just the same model with a new paint job. Instead of German car thieves, we get a yakuza gang attempting to kidnap the Japanese Secretary of State for Defence during a visit to Marseilles. Their action plays havoc with Chief Insp Gilbert's 'Operation Ninja', intended to land a lucrative longterm contract for guarding the visiting dignitary. But the custom made 'stealth' limo proves no match for the yakuza, leaving taxi driver Daniel (Nacéri) and bumbling cop Emilien (Diefenthal) to clear up the mess again. As before the car chases are the film's raison d'être. If the non-PC racial slurs are at least even handed, the women fair no better than last time. At 82 minutes, it's too short to get really boring, but it doesn't help to know that a cameraman was killed while filming one of the stunts.

---

• 
•