Turbo

Directed by David Soren
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson
In UK Cinemas October 18th, 2013

by Richard Jones

Turbo is Dreamworks’ second animated release in 2013 following The Croods and again featuring Ryan Renoylds as the voice of the title character- Theo. Yes, that’s not a typo, although calling the film Theo would confuse stupid people.

Based in a world where the science is made up, and scale doesn’t matter, Turbo lives for speed. Watching TV highlights of Indycar, he passes the day longing to be fast. And through a turn of events, he ends up being just that.  Without giving too much of the plot away, he ends up being entered by his human friend, Tito, into the Indy 500.  He is aided by his brother Chet (voiced by the amazing Paul Giamatti) and a group of snails they meet along the way.

Now, I will admit to being a dyed-in-the-wool Pixar fan.  I always feel that Dreamworks films have lacked that cutting edge feel since Shrek. According to Wikipedia, pretty much every Dreamworks film has been a box office success, and i have no doubt Turbo will continue that trend.

The voice cast is pretty amazing- you can sense Samuel L Jackson resisting the urge to say muthaf*cker every other sentence. Paul Giamatti plays the slightly nervous role yet again, and Michelle Rodriguez plays the role of upper class mother of 3.  Just kidding, she plays a slightly butch, tough exterior, wrong side of the tracks role (again).  The animation is slick, well executed, and the 3D didn’t totally suck either.  It still lacks that special something that Pixar do so well. That little zing of magic that makes people shell out hundreds of pounds on merchandise. That thing that makes grown men well up in tears. That thing that makes Disneyworld so magical.  It just doesn’t have it.

Even so, it’s a very good film. Kids will love it, it will sell DVDs by the truckload next summer or whenever it’s released, and the TV ads will be played well into the Christmas season.  You can sit back and enjoy the these ninety minutes of your life without regret, and with happy children in tow.