As I mentioned in some of my previous reviews, early 1980's brought thrillers into Serbian cinematography. In this case, it is a purely Belgrade style story - A tough guy raised on the street who's not afraid to exchange fists with bad boys. He can take a hit, but hits back just as hard...
"Halo Taxi" is a classic action thriller wrapped around Shuger (played by Bata Zivojinovic), an old-school boxer who found his bread in the Taxi business. As it turns out, his wife (Svetlana Bojkovic) gets involved in drugs. Her marriage suffers just as much as her health, and yet Shuger is not willing to let her go. As an experienced Taxi driver he manages to track down the drug dealing gang and so the final firefight can begin. It is a tricky business going against drug cartels, and Shuger will feel it on his skin quite some. Fortunately, he's not alone in this fight, and the tide is about to turn when his friends and colleagues from the Taxi business jump up and help.
"Halo Taxi" is nothing special in any cinematic way, and it surely won't end up in the silver screen hall of fame. Still, I liked seeing it for some different reasons - the spirit of old Belgrade. You see, Belgrade has changed quite some during the last 30 years. It made me remember the good old times when the word "neighborhood" had some meaning, when the city wasn't dug upside down and ruined with cheap real estate, when the soul of Belgrade was very much alive. Above all that, "Halo Taxi" is naturally a story with a lot of old vehicles involved, and personally I always enjoy seeing aged four wheelers in a major role. It also brings back the memories of a time when narcotics were just a mere sporadic discomfort, reserved only for a narrow group of people, whereas today you can buy any kind of drug in a schoolyard nearby.
That pretty much sums up "Halo Taxi" - nice old film placed in good old times.
"Halo Taxi" is a classic action thriller wrapped around Shuger (played by Bata Zivojinovic), an old-school boxer who found his bread in the Taxi business. As it turns out, his wife (Svetlana Bojkovic) gets involved in drugs. Her marriage suffers just as much as her health, and yet Shuger is not willing to let her go. As an experienced Taxi driver he manages to track down the drug dealing gang and so the final firefight can begin. It is a tricky business going against drug cartels, and Shuger will feel it on his skin quite some. Fortunately, he's not alone in this fight, and the tide is about to turn when his friends and colleagues from the Taxi business jump up and help.
"Halo Taxi" is nothing special in any cinematic way, and it surely won't end up in the silver screen hall of fame. Still, I liked seeing it for some different reasons - the spirit of old Belgrade. You see, Belgrade has changed quite some during the last 30 years. It made me remember the good old times when the word "neighborhood" had some meaning, when the city wasn't dug upside down and ruined with cheap real estate, when the soul of Belgrade was very much alive. Above all that, "Halo Taxi" is naturally a story with a lot of old vehicles involved, and personally I always enjoy seeing aged four wheelers in a major role. It also brings back the memories of a time when narcotics were just a mere sporadic discomfort, reserved only for a narrow group of people, whereas today you can buy any kind of drug in a schoolyard nearby.
That pretty much sums up "Halo Taxi" - nice old film placed in good old times.