Movie review: You've got snail with 'Turbo'
Come on, how can any movie about a snail racing in the Indianapolis 500 NOT have his French-Canadian rival yell at the appropriate moment, "Look at that escargot"? Granted, the film's target audience of young children won't get it. And the people who went to see "Grown Ups 2" won't get it, but what about the millions of moviegoers who appreciate spectacularly amusing puns? OK, perhaps I'm overstating my case and "spectacularly amusing puns" could be an oxymoron. Still, that line should have been in the film.
Anyway, what about "Turbo"? Should we start our engines or cool our jets? Or simply shift into neutral? While "Turbo" should entertain kids with single-digit ages, the older set might complain that the film rips off other animated movies such as "Cars" and "A Bug's Life." Surprisingly, I didn't hear any 8-year-olds exiting the theater saying, "Mommy, that film was rather derivative."
The film focuses on Theo (voice of Ryan Reynolds), a garden snail who prefers to be called Turbo as he has dreams of one day being fast. That's kind of like Rob Schneider dreaming of one day being funny. But as Turbo's race car driving idol Guy Gagne (voice of Bill Hader) says, "No dream is too big and no dreamer is too small."
When Turbo isn't toiling in a tomato garden with other snails, he watches videotapes of Gagne racing and even tries racing himself. In one attempt, Turbo beats his record of one yard in 17 minutes. However, his dreams don't sit well with his brother Chet (voice of Paul Giamatti), who prefers to play by the rules. These include tucking and rolling when facing danger. As you can guess, Turbo doesn't play by the rules.
Then one day, during a freak accident, Turbo gets nitrous oxide injected into his system and suddenly becomes a speed demon. Take note, children, all you have to do to fulfill your dreams is to take performance-enhancing drugs. Wait, maybe that's not the message the movie wants to get across.
As fate would have it, Turbo gets captured by a human named Tito (voice of Michael Pena), who owns a taco shop with his brother Angelo (voice of Luis Guzman). Tito places Turbo in a race with other snails, each with his or her own distinctive personality. They include Whiplash (voice of Samuel L. Jackson), Smoove Move (voice of Snoop Dogg), Burn (voice of Maya Rudolph), Skidmark (voice of Ben Schwartz) and White Shadow (voice of Mike Bell). When Tito zooms by his competitors, Tito sees an opportunity to profit from the snail's speed. Angelo doesn't approve of Tito's idea as past marketing plans have failed. Yet another sibling wet blanket.
For more idiosyncratic characters, the rundown, client-free plaza that houses the taco restaurant also provides an address for an auto body shop run by Paz (voice of Michelle Rodriguez), a nail salon run Kim Ly (Ken Jeong) and a hobby store run by Bobby (voice of Richard Jenkins). Anyone who thinks the film, complete with its hip-hop score, is pandering to the urban-ethnic market is a shameless cynic.
With a little help from his friends and a forgiving script, Tito enters Turbo in the Indianapolis 500 where the plucky mollusk will compete against Gagne, among others. Hey, if a rat can cook, a snail can race. Just don't try this in your driveway, youngsters.
What separates "Turbo" from run-of-the-mill fare are its offbeat humor and visual acumen. For example, when bad things happen to snails and other creatures, it's effectively played for laughs. Such forays into reality typically don't find their way into standard children's fare. While real young tykes might get freaked out, the film is rated PG. Suck it up, junior, this isn't "Bambi." The delightfully demented White Shadow is a hoot, too. Ditto for the feisty Kim Ly.
Visually, the film doesn't shy away from showing the underbelly of Los Angeles where businesses founder and entertainment consists of betting on racing snails. At least we don't see roosters fighting. The 3D also works better than in most animated films.
David Soren, who helped pen the superior "Shark Tale," makes a decent directorial debut here. He also co-wrote the decent script with Darren Lemke and Robert Siegel. The team actually had more fun with its supporting cast than with the lead players.
The film is at its most annoying with its abundance of product placements. Nascar drivers, who resemble walking billboards with all the ads on their person, would be embarrassed. Again, the youths won't care. It's the principle. Selling out can be more subtle.
"Turbo" exhibits the same off-kilter comic touch as "The Croods," not surprising as both films come from DreamWorks. But if you're looking for more imagination, Pixar still the place to go. The others? Well, they can just slug it out.
"Turbo" is rated PG. Written by David Soren, Darren Lemke and Robert Siegel; directed by David Soren. Voices of Ryan Reynolds and Paul Giamatti.
"Turbo" (B-)