Kids Movie Review - Turbo

After a Panda, an Ogre, Dragons, Bees and a combination of Lion, Zebra, Hippo and Giraffe... what animal could Dreamworks possibly go for next.  Well, it's a snail.

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"

Kids Movie Review - The Croods

The Croods seems to have one main aim, to be a very big story about discovery, of places, of others and of the self.  The spectacular vistas and some very fast paced sequences definitely aim straight for the eyeball.  The question is can it take it further and fire up the brain cells?

The Croods are introduced as a family of cavemen, literally.  Their entire lives are based on hiding in a cave from the dangers outside, both real and imagined.  Of course there is one member of the family not entirely satisfied with this situation, the rebellious daughter, Eep (Emma Stone).  After an argument with her father, Grug (Nicolas Cage), Eep sneaks out of the cave one night after seeing a mysterious light and soon stumbles across Guy (Ryan Reynolds) and  his sloth sidekick, Belt.  Guy tells her that the world is ending and their only hope is to get to a distant mountain, and after their cave is destroyed the Croods have no choice but to make the journey.

This movie certainly has a lot of personality.  True it is only from a few of the characters but they certainly do enough to hold the movie and keep it going.  Notorious scene chewer Nicolas Cage is surprisingly low key throughout the film as the over cautious father desperate to keep his family safe and Ryan Reynolds only seems to hold interest as a character used to motivate the rest of the gang, if it wasn't for Belt (voiced by Chris Sanders) then Guy would have next to no personality.

This is a movie that has a selection of stand out scenes, and it needs them to keep the interest going.  While there are plenty of laughs to be had from several slapstick sequences there are sections that just don't seem to hold much interest.  Luckily they are fairly short and there is always something ridiculous or spectacular just around the corner.

All up I'd say The Croods is solid family entertainment.  It has the compulsory jokes aimed at the adults and plenty of laughs for the kids.  The scenery is spectacular and each character's journey ties in well with the rest.  The Croods is certainly worth a watch.

In a word - Da-da-daaaaa