Turbo tells the tale of an ambitious snail named Theo (Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of being a racer. Obviously this is a long reach for a snail, but its not enough to stop him from dreaming. He works with his brother Chet (Paul Giammati) in a tomato plant harvesting what they can, and trying not to get picked off by crows. At night he lives out his fantasy by watching clips of his hero, Indianapolis 500 championship racer Guy Gagne (Bill Hader). He dreams big but Chet and all the snails around him urge him to keep his head down (as well as his ambitions), before he gets himself killed.
It should go without saying that you should go into Turbo with a realistic mindset. This is a movie about a snail who dreams of racing cars. With that said, if you can let you imagination run free and your inner kid go wild for a modest hour and a half you’ll get the best out of Turbo. That’s what first-time director, David Soren — who came up with the idea for the film — did.
After a disappointing realization that he will never reach his dream, Turbo goes out by himself to clear his mind. In a freak accident he is blown off his tracks onto a car that is gearing up to participate in a street race (the cars and design were clearly an ode to the Fast & Furious franchise). He is sucked into one of the cars and his DNA becomes fused with nitrous oxide, leaving him with the speed and power of a super car.
He soon finds himself in the hands of Tito (Michael Pena) who is an aspiring restauranteur along with his brother Angelo (Luis Guzman) who operates their taco truck. Similarly like Turbo, Tito dreams big. He sees the amazing speed of this snail and sees an opportunity to make Turbo a legend of sorts, with the chance of bringing their business to new levels. While living there Turbo meets other snails that Tito and some other neighboring store owners have gathered for racing. This wacky band of characters include Whiplash (Samuel L. Jackson), Smoove Move (Snoop Dogg), Burn (Maya Rudolph), and Skidmark (Ben Schwartz).
Turbo is a bit of goofy animated fun but it surprisingly does have a fair share of substance that I didn’t expect to find while watching. Turbo is constantly rejected by his brother telling him to quit his dreams and to come back to reality. Definitely parallels to the Pixar classic, Ratatouille. Chet does try to bring Theo down to earth urging him to give up what he considers fruitless and dangerous ambitions. This also happens between Tito and Angelo, where Tito dreams big but Angelo wants to just focus on getting by with the taco truck.
The heart of the film lays in the relationship between the duel pair of brothers. What happens when ones dreams are too big, and the other won’t believe in him? There are other surprisingly darker aspects to Turbo, such as Crows constantly picking off the snails during their morning “commute.” It was refreshing to see an animated film embrace some darker humor.
Reynolds was well casted as Turbo, and is passable as the lead. Paul Giamatti has a voice that fits his snail all too well. He gave a really good performance that conveyed the father like tone of his character, conveying plenty of emotion through his voice work, a true sign of a good actor. But in typical fashion, Samuel L. Jackson steals the show. His snail captured his real life personal and character all too well.
Tackling the underdog route is surely something we’re well acquainted with, especially with animated movies, but Turbo is a lot better than you’re likely expecting. With a bit of heart and imagination, it’s a solid animated tale that deserves better reaction than it’s getting so far.
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