Turbo (FILM REVIEW)
Turbo
Film
Review by Kam Williams
Speedy Snail
Enters Indy 500 in Family-Oriented Animated Adventure
Theo (Ryan
Reynolds) is routinely ridiculed by his friends for entertaining what they see
as the impossible dream of one day competing in the Indianapolis 500. Even his brother, Chet
(Paul Giamatti), suggests that, “The sooner you accept the reality of your
existence, the happier you’ll be.”
After all,
Theo is just your garden variety, suburban snail and thus so slow he can barely
get out of the way of a lawnmower or a kid on a tricycle. But that hasn’t
stopped him from permanently painting the number “5” and racing stripes right on
his shell.
Theo whiles
away his days dining on tomatoes that have ripened on the vine and fallen to
the ground. At night, however, he retreats to his lair to watch TV and see drivers
like his hero, Guy Gagne (Bill Hader), fly around racetracks at over 200 miles
per hour.
Everything
changes the day Theo is inadvertently sucked into the engine of a passing
automobile and accidentally injected with nitrous oxide. By the time he is
deposited back on the ground somewhere in the inner city, the slowpoke slug has
been transformed into the speed demon, Turbo, thanks to the luminescent
laughing gas now coursing through his veins.
Soon, the
motoring mollusk becomes the latest internet sensation and is welcomed to the
‘hood by a posse of streetwise slugs led by mellow Smoove Move (Snoop Dogg), trash-talking
Whiplash (Samuel L. Jackson) and flirtatious Burn (Maya Rudolph). He also finds
human benefactors in the kindly co-owners of Dos Bros Tacos, a mobile Mexican
restaurant.
Not
surprisingly, all of the above, including the food cart, make their way from
L.A. to Indiana, with altruistic Angelo (Luis Guzman) and Tito’s (Michael Pena)
life savings covering the Indy 500 entrance fee. At the track, it’s no surprise
that the race ultimately morphs into an exciting showdown between Turbo and his
idol, Gagne.
Marking the
masterful directorial debut of David Soren, Turbo is a visually- captivating and
inspirational modern parable guaranteed to keep the tykes perched on the edge
of their seats for the duration. For, besides its uplifting, overcoming the
odds message, the movie fills the screen with a memorable menagerie of colorful
characters who keep the laughs coming en route to the satisfying resolution.
A hilarious, high-octane variation of
Aesop’s fable about The Tortoise
and the Hare!
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated PG for mild
action and mature themes
Running time: 96
minutes
Distributor: 20th
Century Fox
To see a trailer for Turbo, visit:
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