''Taxi 3'' () is a 2003 French

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

directed by

Gérard Krawczyk Gérard Krawczyk (17 May 1953, Paris) is a French film director. He is of Polish people, Polish descent (his grandparents were from Częstochowa). Filmography Director * ''Homicide by Night'' (1984 in film, 1984) * ''Je hais les acteurs'' (a.k.a ...

. Starring

Samy Naceri Saïd Naceri (; born 2 July 1961), known as Samy Naceri (), is a French actor known for his work in the four '' Taxi'' films and '' The Code'' (''La Mentale''). Early life and career Naceri was born to an Algerian Berber Kabyle father and a Fre ...

, Frédéric Diefenthal and

Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress who has appeared in both European and Hollywood productions. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Marion Cotillard, various accolades, including an Ac ...

, it is the sequel to '' Taxi 2'' (2000), and was followed by '' Taxi 4'' (2007). It is the third installment in the ''Taxi'' film series.

Plot

A group of thieves calling themselves the Santa Claus gang are wreaking havoc, using Santa Claus costumes to commit heists, and the Marseille police are, as usual, unable to keep up. Superintendent Gibert (played by

Bernard Farcy Bernard Farcy (; born 17 March 1949) is a French actor who has starred in over 70 plays, television series and films. He is best known for his role as Commissaire Gérard Gibert in Luc Besson's action-comedy franchise ''Taxi'', as well as his app ...

) is distracted by a Chinese journalist (

Bai Ling Bai Ling (, born October 10, 1966) is a Chinese American actress and musician. After acting in numerous Chinese productions, she played small roles in American films such as '' The Crow'' (1994) and '' Nixon'' (1995) before starring as the femal ...

) writing a story on his squad, and is unable to stop the robbers. Detective Emilien's wife, Petra, has just announced that she's pregnant and taxi driver Daniel (

) is in the midst of a relationship crisis. His long-suffering girlfriend Lilly has walked out on him after finding him customising his taxi at four o'clock in the morning, and complaining that their house has become a mere garage and how Daniel stopped paying attention to her. After a string of mistakes in which the thieves outsmart the police time and time again, the journalist is kidnapped. It is revealed that the journalist is the leader of the Santa Claus gang. The police go in search, but Emilien is captured after another botched attempt to arrest them. The journalist sets a trap; she leaves Emilien tied to a chair in an old warehouse, directly in the path of a giant ball which will crush him five minutes later. At the last moment, Daniel rushes in with his taxi and rescues him. They track the gang to their hideout in the Swiss mountains, where the journalist and her accomplices are arrested by a crack team of Alpine troops. Gibert lands in an ice-bound lake after leaping from an aircraft with them. Petra gives birth, Daniel proposes to Lilly, and a Gibert is seen being pushed around in a wheelchair covered in ice.

Cast

Production

Reception

Empire (magazine) ''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Media Group. The first issue was published in May 1989. History David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and '' Smash Hits'', proposed the idea ...

rated it 3 out of 5.

Video games

''Taxi 3'' – Based on ''Taxi 3''. Released in 2003 by Ubisoft Montreal.

In popular culture

The opening titles are a spoof of those featured in the movies starring

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

, and there are several nods to the 007 canon throughout the film, e.g. Daniel's rotating number plate and the ski chase at the film's climax.

References

External links

* * * {{Luc Besson 2003 films 2003 action comedy films 2003 crime comedy films 2000s buddy comedy films 2000s pregnancy films 2000s chase films Films about organized crime in France Films directed by Gérard Krawczyk Films produced by Luc Besson Films set in Marseille French buddy comedy films French pregnancy films 2000s French-language films French action comedy films French crime comedy films French sequel films Taxi (film series) 2000s French films Films with screenplays by Luc Besson