TAXI HUNTER – Keep back if you value your sanity, this is the product of Herman Yau and Anthony Wong – the pair were responsible for those hilariously bilious outbursts of exploitation ‘Ebola Syndrome’ and ‘The Untold Story’, so the odds are that you might be in for a treat if you lap up that kind of sick. On the other hand, not so fast. You don’t have to get that far into ‘Taxi Hunter’ to realise that it’s basically no more than a proficient HK thriller. No tears shed from these eyes, for although 'Taxi Hunter' might not be the half-expected shitstorm of gunk and misanthropy, these days sometimes I’d rather just be mildly entertained. 'Taxi Hunter' goes the distance on that score. Wong is a put-upon office guy who cringes his way through the nine-five, with only thoughts of pending new dadhood and his other half keeping him afloat. Those are snuffed when a cabbie inadvertently drags Wong’s pregnant wife down the street and kills her, leaving behind a shattered dream and a man with a homicidal grievance against taxi drivers. ‘Taxi Hunter’ proceeds in classic ‘self-righteous avenger’ movie fashion, with Wong sizing up and picking off errant cab drivers one by one whilst still insisting on his basic good character. There’s something hilarious about this taxi fixation that gets lost in the efficient run-through, but now and again you just want to pause and ask “Why? Not everyone likes cabbies, but why, as a producer, would you believe there was mileage in a movie about them being stalked like prey?” Maybe there was just a thing about it in Hong Kong back in the day, who knows. Anyway, ‘Taxi Hunter’ is basically an enjoyable worm turns “I aint gonna take this no more” revenge thriller with obvious shades of the likes of ‘Falling Down’ and other stuff from around the time, and it’s quite good. And I’m never not going to watch a movie called ‘Taxi Hunter’, am I?
 |