Movie Review: Turbo 3D (2013)

So Hollywood has now moved down the animal kingdom pyramid to create a new kind of underdog hero with a gastropod. A typical garden snail with a penchant for speed. Would you or the younger ones be able to relate to a mollusc as an underdog hero who challenges all limitations of being a snail, who inspires his brother to dream big with him, and then race against Indianapolis 500’s fastest racer with his new found super speed?

Theo and Gang

Dreamworks latest animation, Turbo, is about a snail named Theo who dreams big and through an unfortunate incident, turns into a mutant with propulsion power that rivals race cars. There are other big names associated with the project – Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Ken Jeong, Michael Pena, Paul Giamatti, Luiz Guzman, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Michelle Rodriguez and Snoop Dogg – actors with large followings who will certainly draw a large audience to the cinemas.

Theo "Turbo" above the freeway

It is your typical Hollywood fare. Predictable and uninventive as many reviewers have given the Ryan Reynolds cartoon. So far the reviews have bordered on the negative but they do add that it is entertaining enough to keep the audience entertained. From the recent preview, I have to agree with the critics. Turbo is a predictable and uninventive fare. Though the plot is simple as any family type films would be, you will not be bored either. The script is ok. The characters are formulaic but with experienced actors lending their easily recognisable voices and giving their roles some colour, the movie plods along entertaining enough. Mundane drama bits wasn’t left to drag too long. The humour is injected well with several laugh out loud moments.

A bad guy always makes a movie better. In Turbo, Bill Hader plays the antagonist, Guy Gagné, the Indy 500 top racer convincingly ‘bad’ and that raised the movie’s entertainment level several notches higher as the movie sped towards the checkered flag.

Turbo on Indy500

As a family movie, it will deliver well. The children will love the bright lights, slapstick humour, absorb the positive messages (hopefully), and maybe learn to love garden slugs. For the more matured cinema goers, although with good animation qualities and an all star cast, it might fail to deliver a long lasting impression. But then the raw animated action from the Indy 500 track with great camera angles, and the need for speed mindset might win the speed-freak in you.

The snail flick is turbo charging into cinemas 18 July 2012

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