Taxi 4

Taxi 4 is great! It is so light, so optimistic, so unabashed and so well done that leaves only good impressions. Usually, the sequels and moreover all other continuations do not work out, but this did it. 91 minutes of the film fly so quickly that at the end you need more of this merry, funny, witty work. All the beloved heroes are here – silly Police Chief with all his crazy ideas, pot-smoking Rasta cop, slightly slow Afro-American cop, and then, the excellent trio of main heroes – Mr. Taxi Driver, Daniel; clumsy and sluggish Emelienne and then his super wife, Petra. This trio holds the whole film well, but then without all the secondary characters it also would be impossible to make this movie so good. The Belgian criminal, slightly stupid gangsters, terribly inept policemen, shoot-outs, chases, fights, drugs, football – everything is mixed up and served so hot, so immediate, so tasty and so refreshingly funny. This is a great example that Part Four sometimes may be very good.

Not much is left of the fast paced action from the original "Taxi"! The only connection between this and the previous movies are the cast and a very short appearance of the taxi driven by Daniel (Samy Naceri)! Everything what I liked about the "Taxi" series is gone! Apart from the climax which looked like a parody on Scarface there is not much action to be enjoyed! There are no car chases and none of the spectacular stunts we are used to from the "Taxi" series! That doesn't mean that "Taxi 4" is a bad movie! It has a lot of funny moments and you will laugh! But with the action missing the well balanced mix of humor and action is lost! It was nice to see the main characters some what matured since they have become parents! But it could have been much nicer if they showed more about the relationship between the heroes and their children! I hope this will be the last in the "Taxi" series! Because it only can get worse and that shouldn't happen! "Taxi 4" is a slapstick comedy that surely will find an audience! But my guess is that a lot of fans from the original Taxi will give this a miss!

In 1998 taxi pizza delivery guy Daniel became a taxi driver. One that made the streets of Marseille a dangerous place. Emilien, a cop, was there to work against him, and later with him, in pursuit of a gang of bank robbers. This film was fast paced, had a high comedy factor, insanely fast chase scenes and a compelling story. Two sequels were made. Part II was good, part III was OK.

Now, Daniel and Emilien return to the screen once more. The story picking up where part III left of - both have a son. The rest of the storyline is continued as well, for the most. Which also means most of the characters from the earlier films return too. The fast paced action is there too, just not in the same amounts as the earlier films. And that's where the painful truth lies. The cow has been milked empty - Taxi 4 is an insult to the first film. There was in total about 15 minutes of worthy film material in this one, and all the rest was rehashed, and badly at that, old material.

Anyway, the story in short: more adventures in Marseille with a fast taxi and a slow cop. But not as good as the previous ones, and hopefully the last in the series. The steady decline in quality after the first one is painful to the brain.

4 out of 10 cops run of the road.

Taxi 4. The engine starts to stall. Unfortunately, the 4th movie of the funny and fast franchise about taxis and the police is already starting to slow down. The new film rests only on the chemistry between the main and secondary characters, and the plot itself is no longer very interesting, the next main antagonist is presented as probably the main horror of all 4 films, and in the end (spoiler) turns out to be an empty shell. Otherwise, it's all the same Taxi. Only it seemed to me that this same Taxi was already receding into the background, and the jokes that the police were not able to cope with their work were put in the forefront.

After a prologue where taxi driver Daniel helps football star Djibril Cissé get to the stadium just in time for his first match in Marseilles we get to the main story. A Belgian criminal, known as 'Le Belge' is to be held in Marseilles as he changes plane on the way to his trial in the Congo. Not surprisingly things go very wrong. Le Belge manages to persuade policeman Emilien that he is actually an attaché at the Belgian embassy and that the real criminal escaped before boarding the plane to Marseilles. Once released he takes Daniel's taxi to freedom. Emilien is sacked but with Daniel's help he works to recapture Le Belge with the help of Daniel.

It must be said that for a 'Taxi' film this is somewhat lacking in the series' trademark high-speed action; thankfully it is still hilarious... of course humour is subjective but I enjoyed it so much I laughed till it was hard to read the subtitles! The humour was delightfully silly; a police chief shooting himself with a tranquiliser; a criminal in a leather gimp suit and a protagonist fails to recognise his wife just because she was wearing a wig. The cast does a solid job with most of the regulars returning, although Marion Cotillard is no longer present. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of madcap comedy; just don't expect the high speed hijinks of the previous films.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.