Directed by David Soren.
2013. Rated PG, 96 minutes.
Cast:
Mario Andretti
Ironically, Turbo (Reynolds) is a snail. He loves
Formula One racing, especially his hero Guy Gagné (Hader) and wants nothing
more than to go really fast. As you might imagine, being a snail makes this
rather difficult. Still, a boy can dream. Unfortunately, that dreaming makes it
hard for him to perform the mundane tasks of daily life. This includes doing
his job for which he is under the supervision of his much more cautious brother
Chet (Giamatti). Frustrated with life, Turbo finds himself looking over the
freeway. Somehow he finds himself on it, barely surviving the harrowing ordeal.
When he comes to, he discovers that his shell is suddenly a high-powered engine
that enables him to travel at ridiculous speeds. One thing leads to another and
Turbo and Chet wind up in the care of Tito (Peña), a taco salesman/snail racer
with big ideas. Trying to get Turbo into the Indy 500 ensues.
Following Turbo on his quest is a fun adventure that is well
paced and breezes by easily. The racing scenes are all exciting and should
bring the youngsters to the edge of their seats as a decent amount of tension
is created by them. The story between them holds together pretty well, also. As
nonsensical as it sounds, we buy into it. We get caught up in whether or not this
little snail can do the impossible.
Helping to sell all of this to us is a remarkable cast. To me,
this begins with two wonderful actors doing superb voice work, Paul Giamatti
and the incomparable Samuel L. Jackson. Both are just plain amazing. Giamatti
provides a persistent naysayer who makes his opinions clearly known. Jackson
brings his familiar persona to the role and somehow makes it all the way through
the film without dropping F-bombs. Between the two of them, they get most of
the movie’s best lines. However, they are not alone. Michael Peña, Bill Hader, Snoop,
and Ken Jeong are all excellent, as well. Luis Guzman shines in the very nearly
thankless role of Tito’s big brother Angelo, but not given nearly as much to
do. All of them overshadow leading snail Ryan Reynolds. It’s not that he is
bad, it’s that they are so good.
By the end, we have an easily graspable film about chasing
your dreams and never giving up. This message is telegraphed pretty far in
advance so that might lessen some of its potency, but it still works. Best of
all, it’s not something we have to dwell on. Things are kept lighthearted
enough so the kids don’t feel brow-beaten when it’s over. It stands a bit ahead
of most animated kiddie fare, but is not quite special.
MY SCORE: 7/10
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