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Turbo
Man, that snail is FAST.
That's what I heard for two days after taking my son to see Turbo, Dreamworks Animation's latest salvo in this summer's family film bloodbath. And make no mistake -- that's where the money is right now. When the dust clears, it's going to be Monsters University, Despicable Me 2and... yes, I think Turbo left standing.
Turbo might even conquer Gru, at least. The story of a snail with Indy 500 dreams actually follows its internal logic, and has the sense to bring up and then shoot down all criticisms of the concept. At least, up to a point.
I'm still not clear on how the snail Theodore aka "Turbo" (Ryan Reynolds) can operate a VCR and television, let alone open a can of energy drink. But I bought into the world of Cars, so maybe I shouldn't think too hard.
In fact, Turbo follows a plot that Cars 2 should have borrowed. Lightning McQueen wasn't quite an underdog, but a snail? Yes, as his idol Guy Gagne (Bill Hader) says, people love underdogs. It gives them something to root for, and Turbo is likeable enough, and his dream crazy enough, that even though you know we're headed for a Lucas/Rudy slow clap ending, we want to see how the heck it's going to get there.
Most of the other snails accept their lot, especially Turbo's fussy brother Chet (Paul Giamatti). They wake up each morning and go to work at the monotonous task of tending, harvesting and eating tomatoes. With a macabre touch, they also accept that every day they will lose a few of their work force to crows and the psychotic kid with a Big Wheel. (Maybe a steal from Toy Story, but it's dismissed quickly enough to be little more than a nod.)
So Turbo actually pays homage to more than one movie, as a quick trip into the world of The Fast and the Furious exposes the snail to nitrous oxide and an X-Men like alteration to his snail DNA -- do mollusks even have a circulatory system like mammals? I must scramble to my biology textbook...
Once imbued with super speed, Turbo and Chet end up being caught by Tito (a warm performance from Michael Pena), who runs a taco truck with his brother Angelo (Luis Guzman), but has big dreams. The two dreamers team up, and... well, I don't know if snail racing is really a thing, but I'll buy into it, because the energy keeps up. And so does the cast of characters.
Turbo gets a pit crew of tricked out snails that really are just fun, and all energetically voiced. Of course Samuel L. Jackson is a near-psychotic snail team leader, countered by Snoop Dogg as Smoove Move. (Somebody explain to me how Snoop Dogg has gone from gangsta, ganja advocate, and porn star to beloved children's entertainer?)
Director David Soren has an eye for little details that make this a cut above. Even the snails have mannerisms and tics that are recognizably human. And the guy really knows his hobby stores -- as the snails get retrofitted with pieces of old model kits with clever accessories.
He also pulls out of his voice actors nothing but warm performances. Reynolds is doing his usual normal guy schtick, but bouncing off of Giamatti, it works, as they both have a similar timbre. Then Pena and Guzman somehow make animated brothers feel real and loving. Only Hader really sounds, well, cartoonish, but that's appropriate for Guy.
Like its hero, Turbo just comes loaded with heart, and unlike Despicable Me 2, it earns its emotional turns. And unlike the Indy 500, it's not all just left turn, left turn, left turn... sometimes it's just straight ahead, and it feels good.
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