Taxi 3

Taxi 3 : Here is a film that bears well its name : Yes absolutely it is the THIRD sequel of the same track race between the foreign Wicked bandits and the dumb French police helped by the turbo-charged taxi driver. After 2 attempts, you might expect a bit of "ageing" and maturation of this eye-catching concept, well except the the fun credits at the beginning and the surprise appearance of Mr Stallon himself, there is nothing really new :

• a simplistic story-line - a demagogue & super-caricatural description of the French police - a crude humor - not so impressive track race - action scenes with barely no action - pityful dialogues - actors who are never really exploited - no surprise happy ending

Apparently Mr Besson wanted to make a comedy that does not take itself seriously : well if you are not too hard to please concerning the subtlety of the humor you might get a satisfaction but it's not enough to save this farce because the supposed action scenes are nothing more than boring and uninspired. Furthermore, the grotesque is too serious not to be taken seriously. So you are left with the story, but it the carbon copy of the precedents except that the Chinese have replaced the Japanese and the Germans as the shrewd bandits...

It's a pity that Mr Besson the producer/writer does not have the same standard of excellence as Mr Besson the director. This film could have been a funny piece of popular entertainment but it was too botched up to live up to this title.

To sum up : a ludicrous popular comedy made of crude gags + no action action scenes in the wake of the worn out Taxi series. (4 out of 10)

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in his filmography in order, I come to his cameo in Taxi 3.

Plot In A Paragraph: A gang of thieves calling themselves the Santa Claus Gang are running riot, and the police are nowhere near catching them. Police Captain Gilbert is distracted by a Chinese reporter writing a story on his squad, detective Emilien's wife has just announced that she's pregnant, and taxi driver Daniel is in the midst of a relationship crisis. After a string of mistakes in which the thieves outsmart the police several times with a reporter there to report on it all, Daniel steps in to help out.

The tile sequence is fun, as its basically a rip off various James Bond titles

Director Gerard Krawczyk had directed writer Luc Besson's last movie 'Wasabi' starring Jean Reno. Funnily enough, in the street market, you can clearly see behind Émilien in at least two shots a poster for 'Wasabi'

Stallone briefly pops up for a taxi ride in the first couple of mins.

The third chapter in the “Taxi” series is a definite step down from the second. Director Gérard Krawczyk and screenwriter Luc Besson have managed to introduce some new elements to the franchise (a pre-credits Stallone cameo, a Bond-style title sequence, a gigantic 4 X 4 crashing everything on its path, bank robbers disguised as Santa Clauses, future parenthood, the action moving to the Swiss Alps in the last 20 minutes and Daniel's taxi functioning as a snowmobile, etc.) to justify making this sequel. However, Besson's script remains very thin (the film barely fills up 83 minutes, long closing credits included), and the absence of a climactic set-piece is especially disappointing. The characters still have appeal, and the introduction of exotic beauty Bai Ling is a plus; on the other hand, those expecting Emma Sjöberg to get involved in the action in the same way she was in "Taxi 2" should forget about it: her character is already 8 months pregnant as the movie opens. (**)

Lots of fun , laughs and car races . This thrilling as well as humorous motion picture blends action packed , car pursuits , comedy , shootouts , rip roaring and turns out to be pretty amusing . Displays nonstop action and is extremely bemusing and hilarious . The movie is developed in Marseille , as usual , there foul-mouthed Cabbie (Sami Narcery) join forces with a bungler police inspector , a loser named Emilien (Frederic Diefenthal) . A gang of thieves calling themselves the Santa Claus band are committing robbing , and the police can't keep up . Police Captain Gilbert (Bernard Farcy) is distracted by a Chinese journalist (Bai Ling) writing a story on his group , detective Emilien's sweetheart (Emma Sjöberg as Petra) has just announced that she's pregnant, and taxi driver Daniel is in the midst of a relationship crisis with Lilly Bertineau (Marion Cotillard) who is also pregnant . After a string of errors in which the thieves outsmart the police time and time again with a journalist there to record it all , the sympathetic Cabbie Daniel and his super-taxi go into action . Out to stop a new gang disguised as Santa Claus, Emilien and Daniel must also handle major changes in their personal relationships .

The film displays action , comedy , intrigue , tongue in check and results to be entertaining , though predictable . There are chases galore in breathtaking velocity and with impressive finale race cars , causing wreak havoc and destruction , being realized by magnificent stunts and including excellent visual effects . From the start to the ending the action pace is fast moving , provides fast and furious entertainment with spectacular scenes . It's a run of the mill action-comedy film but from the initial to the final the fast movement and amusement is unstopped . Breathtaking scenes when take place alpine skiing , parachuting images and others in James Bond style . The laughters and chuckles are varied and giggles are based about diverse characters and differences of the protagonists , but they are the unlikeliest pals . The film is thrilling and humorous at times but is also ridiculous and embarrassing . However sometimes is fresh and diverting and on a couple of memorable occasions, it's frankly delicious . Likable and ordinary cast as Frédéric Diefenthal , Emma Wiklund , Bernard Farcy , Marion Cotillard , Sami Narcery ; even though they play a romantic couple that looks the same age, Samy Naceri was born 15 years before Marion Cotillard . Special appearance Sylvester Stallone, who appears in a cameo at the beginning of the movie, is dubbed for the French version . Lively and atmospheric musical score adjusted to the action by DJ Kore and DJ Skalp , composed by means of synthesizer . Glamorous and colorful cinematography by Gerard Sterin .

This French buddy-cop movie is lavishly produced by great producer and director Luc Besson and professionally directed by Gérard Krawczyk (Wasabi , Fanfan La Tulipe , Heroines) . The original titled Taxi (1998) by Gerard Pires was followed by three sequels : Taxi 2 (2000), Taxi 3 (2003) y Taxi 4 (2007) , most of them directed by Gerard Krawczyc and same actors and an American version with Queen Lafitah , Jimmy Fallon and directed by Tim Story . The flick will appeal to adrenaline lovers and those young people looking for amusing and strong emotions . It's a must see for the cars buffs and Taxi series enthusiasts .

Yes, it is funny but I am getting a little tired of watching the same thing the third time around. I like the first one because it was fresh and different... But, Taxi 3 is just a copy of the previous 2 with a little new twist... I hope there will be no Taxi 4 coming out any time soon...