Turbo (2013)
Certified: U
Duration: 96 minutes
Directed by: David Soren
Voices of: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Peña, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Michelle Rodriguez, Samuel L. Jackson, Luis Guzmán, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong
KRS release
Ryan Reynolds provides the voice for Turbo, a garden snail who is very slow even by snail standards. But he has great dreams, including that of winning the Indy 500 race.
This makes him his brother Chet’s (Paul Giamatti) target of ridicule.
Life for the snails is cornered on trying to avoid their two main adversaries: Big Wheel Boy (Aidan Andrews), a boy on a tricycle who loves to crush bugs, and the lawnmowers that populate the gardens.
When Turbo escapes from the garden, he finds himself in one dangerous situation after the other. He ends up in the engine of a nitro-fuelled car which leaves him transformed: he is able to live up to his namesake and go really super fast.
Turbo meets Tito (Michael Peña), who has a taco business with his brother but who wants something more from life. He ends up enrolling Turbo in the Indy 500 after he gets support from local businesses.
Turbo gathers around him a group of snails: Chet, Whiplash (Samuel L. Jackson), Burn (Maya Rudolph), rival Smoove (Snoop Dogg), Skid Mark (Ben Schwartz) and White Shadow (Michael Patrick Bell). At the Indy 500, he ends up clashing with his hero, Guy Gagne (Bill Hader).
This year has been a particularly busy one for animated features.
Turbo is the latest animated release from Dreamworks and as such, has vivid and rich colour, high detailing and fast humour.
What makes Turbo different is that it is simply a bit weird, but in a good way.
We have a snail racing with cars and nobody seems to question how it’s possible! It’s simply hilarious.
Another factor that works in the film’s favour is that it seems to capitalise on what made Cars appealing to its fanbase and turns the tables on it. It bases itself on a notion that is cute and milks it for all it’s worth with great effectiveness.
I am positive that a snail who falls into the chemical in question does not become a sort of car-snail amalgamation, but for the sake of the film this works wonders and the fact that it is already being followed by a cartoon TV series, Turbo: F.A.S.T., shows that the producers believe that there are more tales to tell for the young dude who dares to dream big and fast.
Turbo is not breaking the mould in the structure of its story; it uses the template that Rocky (1976) perfected so well. It delivers an entertaining time with a sense of charm, wacky humour and premise.
It also has a lot in common with A Bug’s Life (1998), especially in the way the snail-like community is depicted, their way of life, their sense of humour and the everyday danger they encounter.
The snails’ characters are well-developed: their interactions are tangible and the human-snail relationship, as improbable as this may be, is also well rounded.
Visually, the film is vivid and well directed, providing the audience with a series of images that are well charted out and focused especially to make the best out of the difference in stature between snails and fast-racing cars.
Couple this with excellent voicing deliveries, especially from Giamatti as the sourpuss brother, and you know that Turbo will rev its way into your kids’ hearts.