Turbo

The teaser trailers DreamWorks Animation circulated to get young audiences slowly but surely to want to see the computer-animated film Turbo were very funny. Especially the passages that poked fun at snails who go to extremes in races but only get up to speeds that can be expressed in millimetres per second. That joke was pretty obvious, but it was well executed and thus had the right effect. It’s the same throughout the film: the jokes aren’t too high flown, and don’t attempt to appeal to adults, but really just aim at kids: a clear preference for bright colours, fun, and a hero to cheer for. The hero’s name is Theo, a garden snail with ambitions. He is obsessed with car races and one day hopes to match his idol Guy Gagné. The typical American maxim that no dream is unreachable as long as you believe in it hard enough is highlighted here yet again. Except that the self-willed snail merits his success story suspiciously little. After an accident with a street racer, he is magically transformed into the ultra-fast Turbo. With the help of a colourful gang led by the manager of a taco stand, he makes his way into the Walhalla of American racing. If you’re waiting for a surprising twist in the story, you’ll be disappointed. Turbo is in the slipstream of Cars and avoids reckless catch-up manoeuvres. Good enough for the mid-term holidays, but forgotten within a year.

Turbo ••
US, 2013, dir.: David Soren, 96 min.