This is tough to answer because the expectations would be set so high. Consider the highly underwhelming and histrionic sequel to The Last Picture Show known as Texasville, or Jack Nicholson's long-awaited yet disappointing The Two Jakes, an inferior, flashy and occasionally touching sequel to Chinatown. It is best not to let something gestate for too long, as the aforementioned sequels have - 2006 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of "Taxi Driver." Will audiences warm up to an existential antihero like Travis in an age when the ironic antihero has taken over? Back in the 1950's, the ironic antihero was invented by Jean Luc-Godard with Breathless and countless other French films that parodied film noir. In the 1990's, Quentin Tarantino took it one step further with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. The difference between Godard and Tarantino is that Godard's ironic antiheroes actually suffered the consequences of their actions, which usually meant getting whacked in the final reel as in "Breathless" or Pierrot Le Fou. With the exception of "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction" showed remorseless, guiltless hit men becoming the saviors by the final reel. So how can an older Travis Bickle fit in this jaded day and age when the ironic antihero is more likely to discuss hamburgers and movies than guilt or morality? It may not be a great fit. Here's why.

Robert De Niro has been saddled lately with largely comedic roles from Analyze This and its sequel to Meet the Parents and its own sequel. These movies were big hits with audiences - obviously, De Niro has clicked with them in ways he didn't with his brooding anitheroes from the 1970's and beyond (even a return to such a character in 2002's City By the Sea resulted in middling box-office). And yet, in its day, "Taxi Driver" was a popular film (it made 22 million off of a 1.3 million dollar budget). The film had audiences cheering during the ultraviolent climax, thereby assuming that they were watching the latest in Death Wish theatrics. Travis Bickle and the film have entered the pop culture pantheon. Everyone knows the classic line, "Are You Talkin' to Me?," which has been parodied countless times, even by De Niro himself in Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

But times do change. New York City is no longer the same. Most of the run-down porno theatres frequented by Travis on 42nd street have disappeared - it has become Disneyfied. We also have to take into account the 9/11 tragedy that certainly changed not only New York but also the world. Does that mean crime in New York doesn't exist? Of course not, but we also had our own real-life Travis in the 1980's in the form of Bernard Goetz, New York's "Avenging Angel," who took it upon himself to shoot four black gang members, point blank range. Seeing a recent interview on Larry King with Nancy Grace as host, I saw that Bernie Goetz didn't change much - he had no sense of remorse for what he had done. He was more concerned with his vegetarian diet than with his own crime, which made him into a media celebrity (one of the themes of "Taxi Driver.") As we know, Goetz hogged the spotlight and has admitted that he would do it all again, under the same circumstances. However, he recently admitted that the city of New York is not the same anymore, and he is not the same person nor does he hog the press as much. This would indicate a compelling change of character for someone like Travis Bickle as well.

So do racist, downtrodden, angry Vietnam vets still exist, and do some of them drive cabs in New York? Would Travis still be driving a cab? Is he still in New York? Does he still hate the scum, the filth, or did the rain really wash them all down the drain thanks to former Mayor Rudy Guiliani? How about his relationship with Iris (Jodie Foster) who eventually moved back with her parents? Did she have a good life and get reformed from her prostitution at the tender age of 12? Is she in contact with Travis? How does Travis feel about politics, considering he tried to gun down a presidential candidate? Is he still on a self-destructive phase where he will never reach beyond his loner, alienated status?

There are several possibilities for a sequel, assuming it is character-driven and written by Paul Schrader (he is after all the creator of this character and the screenwriter). Let's hope it doesn't aim for the low road and have Travis going mad and shooting somebody every few minutes. The question remains: is a sequel really necessary? Difficult to say because I still think "Taxi Driver" had a complete beginning, middle and end (it is also my favorite American film). It does have an ambiguous ending to be sure, something many critics still question and ruminate over. Was it all a dream and did Travis die, or did he become a celebrity in New York and survive the ordeal? You may recall that after the ultraviolent bloody climax, Travis had a neck wound, joked with fellow cabbies, declined Betsy's payment for the fare, and went off driving into the night. The last image of the film has Travis jerking his head in recognition of something as he looks in his rearview mirror. The notion is that something could trigger Travis again in the future. Killing Iris's pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel), and a mobster might have been cathartic for Travis, but let's not forget we are dealing with a mentally ill man. His view of New York is an unhealthy one - he hates the derelicts, the pimps, the dregs, the blacks, the drug dealers - but it is his own view that is not shared by anyone else in the film (with the exception of the chilling cameo by Scorsese as a psychotic cabbie). He does date a WASP, a blonde beauty named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) who happens to work for Senator Palantine (Leonard Harris), but he screws it up by taking her to a porno theatre. Travis could do better - he might've canvassed for Palantine for President - but he refuses to. He does everything he can to not improve his life. He goes on a strict diet to remain physically fit, yet consumes pills and eats bananas drenched with liquor.

The existential question in "Taxi Driver" is also ambiguous - what is Travis preparing for? He lifts weights, he practices shooting at a gun club, he tries to stop eating bad foods, but to what end? Is his intention to really shoot Sport or to attempt to shoot Palantine? And how about the convenience store robbery where he shoots a black stick-up man? Wasn't that cathartic enough for Travis? Or is it that even if Travis hates New York's seamier streets, he wants to be a part of it in some way because it keeps him in some sort of weird, even balance? Now that 42nd street is no longer the same, perhaps Travis would move to Spanish Harlem. Maybe he gets married, then is divorced, maybe he has a kid. Or maybe the man hasn't changed much and still drives a cab and watches porno movies on DVD. Taking Travis out of New York is like having a Woody Allen movie take place in Cincinnati - Travis and Woody are distinct New York icons and institutions. This ticking time bomb just belongs in New York City.

"Taxi Driver" is a purely existential, gritty film of its time. I'd love to see an older Travis Bickle but in this day and age of Marvel comic-book heroes, horror movie remakes and Vin Diesel and Eddie Murphy appearing in harmless family comedies, where can Travis fit in? Robert De Niro could stand the challenge of working again with director Martin Scorsese, even if it isn't a sequel to "Taxi Driver." Recently, he appeared in brooding mode on an American Express commercial directed by Scorsese - a conscious ode to the New York of the past and of the present. Perhaps that is about as close to a sequel as we will get.

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