Review of Turbo (2013) by Matthew C — 25 Mar 2014

Again here is a an animated film that will be forgotten by most but for the one time you watch it, you should try and forget the films that have come before and done it better. Turbo isn't new, it's not brilliant, it's not even worth the $100+ million they spent on it.

Probably worth $40 or less. But what it does have is energy, excitement and the unbeatable underdog story. I'll just say Ratatouille still does this concept at a master level, but Turbo should get credit for taking a predictable story of a snail going fast and giving it some unpredictability, like parallel brother stories.

Most of the supporting cast goes nowhere and the villain is wanting. But the lengths he goes to are not. The fact that the hero is literally carried through his success by the other supporting hero makes the film weaker, as does the Mexican brother story which never reaches real depth.

The snail brother story is mostly unlikeable save for the voice talent, and well the film doesn't give us real reason to root for this snail other than that he's a snail in a freaking nascar race.

That's all the adult problems - oh - and the fact that the dreamer theme is wearied and needs fresh life. Ask kids and they'll probably say it wasn't funny. It was boring. It was cool now and then.

After watching Frozen, I felt that Turbo needed the constant hilarity to make the serious moments that MUCH deeper and more poignant for our emotional journey. Frozen had laughs, despite it's flaws.

Great family films have lots of laughs and stories that all ages can relate to. If you're small and want to do big things, Turbo will affirm that. But that's a short film. It's fun. I say that about a lot, but Turbo is fun.

In a world of despair and critique, fun still matters.