Turbo Reviews

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this movie but since it was produced by DreamWorks animation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though DreamWorks has been quite productive through the years with their CGI animated features and, as a result, have become one of the leaders in this fairly competitive market, they often came up with some rather weak concepts and this movie was unfortunately a good example. Indeed, to make a movie about snails was not a really the most inspiring idea and, to make things worse, they made this snail fall into some nitro juice to gain some super speed power. I mean, who gave the greenlight for such a lame concept?!? To be honest, not only it was ludicrous but, above all, it was just rather boring. At least, I have to admit that the animation was decent, I wouldn't expect less from these guys, and the damned thing must have been entertaining for the young kids but it was certainly not enough for me. For Ryan Reynolds, it was yet another flop at the box-office and the guy got really lucky that 'Deadpool' managed to salvage what was left of his career. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, even from DreamWorks animation, I still didn't care much about the damned thing and I don't think it is really worth a look.

This originally looked to be a thoughtful, unique animated movie but once I watched, it seemed like an afterthought in the Dreamworks lineup. From its terrible release date to its content. The idea of a snail going incredibly fast is a fun idea but the results are menial and much of its all-star cast is wasted in this under performer about an under performer who becomes an over performer.

The comedy seems to insult the audience and it's lowbrow when it could have easily have not been.

The film wanted to be a mix of "Cars" and "Up" but fell short of both.

Turbo an animation movie that tells the story of a snail that has a passion of car racing, day dreaming winning these races. An accident favors Turbo that mutated him into a snail that can run at lightening speed leaving a bluish trail behind him and than guess what he got chance to participate into Indianapolis Grand Prix thanks to Tito.

A good movie to watch, kids definitely love it, with a message never to give up on ones dream no matter how difficult it is.

Turbo is a curious tale that is not really all that interesting. It's basically what would have happened if Dreamworks made a better-ish version of Cars and it didn't sell out (as much).

This is a story about a snail who gets bored of his boring life. He has to go to "work" at his tedious "job" everyday gathering tomatoes as a food source (no I am not making that up). His coworkers hate him except for his brother because he's different and---blah blah blah--- he aspires to something extraordinary and---blah blah blah--- there's a phoned-in villain that tries to stop him---- blah blah blah--- he conquers his conflict--- blah blah blah...

Look, you've seen this before, you know how the story goes, minus the part where the protagonist is a snail that enters the Indy 500. In all honesty, Turbo isn't anything really all that special and it will do nothing for you. Maybe it got 4 chuckles out of me, but that's about it.

The problem that comes with reviewing this movie is that there really is not much to say about it at all. That doesn't make me sad, or happy, just indifferent. Why indifferent? Because in all honesty, I didn't really care for it. Maybe it had some "cute moments" but other than that... there really wasn't anything significant about it as it was a completely forgettable experience for me.

"You certainly have the skills to pay the bills. If snails had to pay bills, that is."

Turbo might as well have been called Generic Animated Movie, as this effort from DreamWorks is one of the most aggressively predictable and formulaic in recent memory. With the protagonists of the story being a group of snails, this is a weird picture, but thankfully it's implemented with slick visuals and plenty of energy that's almost enough to distract you from its paint-by-numbers construction. Indeed, it goes without saying that the kids will likely adore it due to how light and colourful it is, but it won't prove to be a depressing experience for the older demographic, as it comes together in an entertaining enough fashion. It's not Pixar, but it is better than both of the Cars movies.

An ambitious garden snail, Theo (Ryan Reynolds) dutifully continues his daily work routine inside a tomato patch, with his older sibling Chet (Paul Giamatti) keeping his brother in line. Theo wants to do something bigger, though, dreaming that he'll one day race alongside his personal hero, Guy Gagne (Bill Hader). Leaving the comfort of the garden one night, Theo is sucked into the nitrous oxide reserve of a street racing car, bestowing the snail with lightning speed. After saving Chet from a crow attack, the pair are picked up by Tito (Michael Peña), who works at a struggling taco stand and collects snails. Theo urges Tito to sign him up for the Indianapolis 500, with fellow store owners helping him raise the entry money. Rechristening himself as Turbo, Theo heads to the races in the company of Chet and several other snails, including Whiplash (Samuel L. Jackson) and Burn (Maya Rudolph). Before long, all eyes are on Theo, and Guy begins to feel threatened by his tiny competition.

Credited to three writers, the screenplay introduces an interesting conceit not unlike something we would expect to see from a Pixar project, but the plot's broad strokes are completely by-the-book. Of course Theo wants to be the fastest snail in history and gets to prove the naysayers wrong with his newfound abilities; of course Theo's racing idol turns out to be a cartoon antagonist; of course there are colourful characters along the way. The narrative is eerily similar to Pixar's Ratatouille, but Turbo lacks the heart, thoughtfulness and depth of that remarkable endeavour. It even sources ideas from Toy Story (there's a kid who likes to squash snails, but the tables are eventually turned on him). Indeed, Turbo is a Frankenstein creation through-and-through. Admittedly, it may seem difficult to avoid all the clichés, but Pixar seems to circumvent a lot of the big ones with their more successful movies almost effortlessly. Furthermore, the central message of Turbo is a bit muddled. After all, nitrous oxide is illegal in professional racing, yet nobody seems to care that Theo is competing despite being full of the chemical...

Turbo is probably at its best during the opening act. Before we get to all the racing, director David Soren concentrates on the everyday workings of the snail community, who spend their days picking and sorting tomatoes. Crow abductions are a regular occurrence, too, and the snails literally cannot do anything about it, so they just quickly lament the loss of their comrade before moving on. The real saving grace of Turbo is its gee-whiz eye candy. Even by the perpetually-heightening standards of contemporary CGI animation, the visual experience here is breathtaking. Rendered in 3-D, there's plenty to enjoy here, and it's the splashes of colour and snappy pacing that keep the feature watchable from start to end. However, the climactic race does drag on for too long. There are suspenseful beats, but the conclusion is pretty predictable, making the long-winded disposition a little disappointing. Turbo could've easily lost five minutes of racing action to make for a better, tighter feature.

Surprisingly, Ryan Reynolds actually stretches his range to some extent in voicing Theo. He often plays smart-aleck characters, but Theo is a different breed, and he manages to give some heart and personality to the titular mollusc. But it's Paul Giamatti who stands out the most, placing forth a spirited vocal performance as Chet. His comedic timing and delivery are spot-on, making him the most memorable character in the picture. With that said, though, there are some colourful turns by a number of other actors, most notably Samuel L. Jackson who oozes cool as Whiplash. Peña is also good, giving Tito a nice degree of welcome humanity.

Turbo is riddled with flaws, but it's not a bad movie - just an easy and simple one, devoid of much in the way of suspense. There are obstacles for Theo throughout the story, to be sure, but we know that he'll pull through and race, and everything will be conventionally happy at the end. A more daring treatment of the premise would be welcome, but Turbo is amiable and pleasant enough.

5.9/10