This is the final movie in the Taxi series before Luc Besson went to Hollywood and started making English movies instead. The movie with the same name with a different cast of characters is pretty much the whole series put together in one more commercial piece of regular action comedy.

So far all movies in the series have had a quick pre-plot before the main movie, and in the latter two (the last and this one) a short intro after it. Here, soccer star Cisse (real figure I think, though sports isn't my field) is the focus in this one. He's late for a match and as always Daniel is at the right place at the right time. The intro revolves around soccer too, at the start of the movie there are balls flying all over the place. Moving on...

In this movie both Daniel's and Emilien's wifes are kicked out of the main story. Daniel's wife is on a course to learn home decoration, more specifically that of garages. Petra (Emilien's) is out on a secret mission. Emilien & Daniel are both dads, and their sons appear briefly in the movie. The little police station in Marseilles is entrusted with the important task of transporting a ruthless Belgian criminal, and as expected things get a bit crazy. Gilbert shoots himself in the foot with a tranquillizer dart, Emilien lets the criminal go thinking it's all a mistake and from there on the story gets interesting.

Compared to the previous movies it feels like this one is a bit used. Sure, it's got the car chases, the action, the comedy, but it feels like it's missing something the prequels all contained. It starts good. There's a little Scarface pastiche toward the end. Everyone is crazy as usual.... but still... something's missing. Still enjoyed watching this though. It's a shame there won't be a fifth, and so on, it seems like the Transport series is what took this ones place. Indeed it is more professional, but the comedy in these movies can't be copied.

 rated 3/5: not bad

January, 2023

Four years after the previous... the time jumps are getting bigger, and you can clearly see the main characters starting to change, too. At least Emilien. Daniel looks the same as always, just a bit more... sedentary.

It's more about cops now. The driver's suddenly on the sidelines - babysitting kids.

They do have a big car upgrade though - be that a good or a bad thing, and instead of Rocky there's Djibril Cisse in the intro, followed by a very football-heavy intro. He's not quite on the same level of stardom as Sylvester - to me at least - but he handles his part well! It starts well. He stars well.

Element from the American remake they fetched from this one: Undercover agent stuff.

There's a real Scarface-inspired ending too. That was better than expected. But villain-wise, plot-wise, wise-wise...

It doesn't really match up. It is great... but not all like the first three.

Maybe just too much cop and too little car for me.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle