Taxi 2 (2000)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Gérard Krawczyk

Writer:

Luc Besson (writer)

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Le 29 mars, il passe la seconde.

Plot:

The Japanese ambassaor is visiting Marseilles to view the city police's anti-gang tactics. During the visit...

Plot Keywords:

Taxi | Yakuza | Taxi Driver | Rescue | Marseille

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Samy Naceri	...	Daniel Morales
Frédéric Diefenthal	...	Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec
Marion Cotillard	...	Lilly Bertineau
Emma Wiklund	...	Petra (as Emma Sjöberg)
Bernard Farcy	...	Commissaire Gibert
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Général Edmond Bertineau
Frédérique Tirmont	...	Mother
Marc Faure	...	French Minister
Hirata Haruhiko	...	Japanese Minister
Tsuyu Shimizu	...	Yuli (as Tsuyu)
Ko Suzuki	...	Katano
Yoshi Oida	...	Yuke Tsumoto
Kentaro	...	Yakuza (as Kentaro Yuji Yamashita)
Hiro Uchiyama	...	Master Hypnotist
Onochi Seietsu	...	Master Hypnotist

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Japanese | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | Ireland:12 | Belgium:KT | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:16 | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company:

ARP Sélection

Trivia:

Was originally released with 836 prints, the largest number ever for a film in France, surpassing the previous 797 print record in France held by Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the chase trough the market place, the air-intakes on the top of the taxi disappear in one shot and is then back in the next

Quotes:

Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec: [subtitled version]
[Émilien has the escaping ninjas cornered in a dead end]
Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec: Ha-ha-ha-ha, oh yes, Marseille is complicated. Full of small streets. And you'll see that the cells aren't big either.
[points his gun at them]
Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec: Line up, face down, hands on your back, I'm warning you, I'm the shooting champion of the department, stop doing the Mario! You speak French?
[ninjas suddenly form a circle leaning towards each other with their hands on each other's shoulder]
Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec: Watch out! Warned you! Me do police brutality!
[ninjas scatter and climb up the wall, Émilien tries to follow but falls into a dumpster]

Movie Connections:

References "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" (1989)

Better than the first

Yes, I found this sequel superior to the original. Action-wise they're on about the same level, but the comedy is much sharper here. The opening sequence alone, involving a woman giving birth right on the back seat of Daniel's taxi and his girlfriend on the phone mistaking the whole thing for something else entirely, is funnier than anything in the first film. There are good lines....

- "Petra, I didn't know you can speak Japanese"

- "It's on my file, sir. Right after my measurements"

- "Ah, I must have stopped reading at that point!"

...and even some elements of political satire. The energy level goes down a bit somewhere in the middle, but bounces back up in the last 20 minutes. Emma Sjöberg gets a more active part this time around, and there are some incredible martial arts moves performed by her, Tsuyu Shimizu, and a masked ninja. Daniel's taxi has increased capabilities, which include flying (!) and require the assistance of special effects, but the crashes (and the fast driving) still look smashingly real. There are also certain gags (how Emilien finally gets his driver's license, for example) that work much better if you know the original, so make sure to watch that one first. (**1/2)