It’s not awful. That’s not faint praise—it’s shock. The signs were so bad for Taxi (a Luc Besson-produced thriller remade as a Queen Latifah comedy) that it’s a pleasant surprise when it turns out to be a mildly diverting buddy caper on a par with, ooh, Beverley Hills Cop II.
Latifah is an insanely aggressive taxi driver with a souped-up car who gets roped into helping a recently sacked idiot cop (Saturday Night Live C-lister Jimmy Fallon) to foil a series of bank robberies. Who are the robbers? Sharp-shooting Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen and foxy friends, of course. They’ve got a souped-up car as well. Possibly you can guess what happens next. No point scrutinising this too closely—it’s genetically engineered to appeal to teenage boys, right down to the unnecessary stripping scenes. If you like stunt driving, wall-to-wall eye candy, happy endings and Latifah’s family-oriented brand of sass, give it a whirl. But see the original afterwards—it’s got 10 times the horsepower.