Turbo sees garden variety snail, Theo (Ryan Reynolds) dreaming of racing in the Indy 500 much to the dismay of his brother Chet (Paul Giamatti). Through a series of mishaps Theo finds himself sucked through the engine of a muscle car as nitrous oxide floods through, leaving him with many car like abilities, including super high speed. A series of mishaps sees him and his brother captured for a snail racing promotion. After the other snails see what he can do he gets renamed Turbo and the journey to fulfill his dreams begins.
First up Turbo is a movie that really says it all in the title, there are no secrets or surprise twists here. This is a movie about a super fast snail. It may not be the greatest premise (or movie) but it does have a few things going in it's favour.
Turbo himself isn't the strongest of lead characters, in fact many of the portrayals are pretty mediocre. What saves this film from being run of the mill visual junk food is one stand out performance and the action.
Shining above everyone else is the snail Whiplash (imagine Samuel L. Jackson playing Samuel L. Jackson as a snail - which isn't too difficult considering he is played by Samuel L. Jackson!). I lost it when a particular scene had him repeating a line in Pulp Fiction "Do I look like a b*tch?" style. Come to think of it, from an acting perspective Whiplash is the only standout.
The movie itself moves along at a steady pace with occasional action helping to keep interest going, punctuated by some wonderfully utilised musical interludes from the likes of Tom Jones, through to House of Pain and Run DMC, and to the likes of Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dog (who also plays a one catch phrase repeating role). It really just bides it time till the final third where the absolute ludicrous extended racing scene occurs. You can't help but get excited and get drawn into it and this ultimately saves the movie.
The kids certainly enjoyed Turbo. It was colourful and fast and had enough over the top sequences and a fair amount of slapstick to keep them amused. My two both agreed the racing was the best part of the movie.
Ultimately I'd recommend saving this for a rainy afternoon rental or a cheap day at the movies. It is a fun distraction but certainly doesn't come close to being amongst Dreamwork's best.
Alternate Title - Samuel L. Jackson in "Snails on a Race Track"
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