Film: Turbo
Voice Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Samuel L Jackson, Snoop Dogg
Director: David Soren
This is your classic kids’ movie – the concept demands the suspension of our disbelief and our cynicism. Animals and humans get along, and we’re all taught a life lesson. In this case, the lesson is that anyone can be a hero. Naturally, the film is predictable throughout, but the timing of its quips makes us laugh every now and again. But then, the humour only works because it is the sort that befits an animated children’s film.
We see the plot twists round the corner when we’re at the other end of the street; and we’re able to guess who the villain is, a while before the big revelation is made. And yes, when a snail dreams of going fast, one can’t escape tiresome wordplay about ‘snail’s pace’.
Even within the animation genre, there have been excellent films, I wouldn’t put this one in the same league as Toy Story or Wreck-It Ralph. It may be about as good as the Ice Age sequels (I did like the original film). This isn’t the sort of cutting edge animation that will merit an Oscar nomination. The story arc is apparent from the trailer.
The story starts off rather slow, as the filmmakers describe the daily routine of Theo/Turbo (Ryan Reynolds). He spends his day helping his other snail friends harvest tomatoes. At nights, he watches the race of his idol, Guy Gagne (Bill Hader). Guy (pronounced Gee) appears to be an inspiration to most young racers and has his own tagline – ‘No dream is too big, and no dreamer too small’.
Theo then decides to run away from home. Along the way, he takes MIA and Eminem’s song ‘Airplanes’ too seriously, making a wish on a shooting star that turns out to be an aeroplane. Voila, he’s Turbo, the fastest snail in the world. The rest of the film covers how he goes about achieving his dream of racing in the Indy 500.
The antics of the snails voiced by Samuel L Jackson and Snoop Dogg are especially enjoyable, and draw us into the film. Smoove Move (Snoop Dogg) is quite like his real life persona – he doesn’t sing, but he does what Snoop does best. One of my favourite parts of the film is the manner in which Whiplash (Samuel L Jackson) gathers his crew and makes Turbo trust them. There is another charming scene where they head to the restaurant where Turbo’s owner works. The soundtrack, which features a surprisingly likeable Eye of the Tiger remix, is worth a mention too. Very often, animated films tend to use jarring music that never helps the story along, and this film chooses a different path.