LEAD CAST: Voices of Ryan Reynolds, Snoop Dogg, Bill Hader, Samuel Jackson, Maya Rudolf
DIRECTOR: David Soren SCREENWRITER:
Darren Lemke, David Soren and Robert Siegel
PRODUCER: Lisa Stewart EDITOR: Noellen Westcombe MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Henry Jackman GENRE: Animation, family adventure
RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes CINEMATOGRAPHER: Chris Stover DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox
Technical assessment: 3.5
Moral assessment: 2
MTRCB rating: GP
CINEMA rating: PG 13
In
a tomato patch in the garden of a suburban Los Angeles home lives a colony of
snails whose days consist of consuming tomatoes to sustain themselves, and
avoiding snail killers like crows, lawnmowers, and bike-riding brats. Here we find Theo (Ryan Reynolds) who
is dissatisfied with his lot, finds the snail life too slow, and longs for
speed. Theo’s spare time is spent
sneaking into the garden shed to watch tapes of car races, finding special
thrill in those won by his idol Guy Gagne (Bill Hader) whom he naturally wants
to imitate. Theo’s sensible older
brother Chet (Paul Giamatti) advises him: “The sooner you accept the dull, miserable nature of your
existence, the happier you’ll be,” but Theo is deaf to it. One night, fascinated by the automotive
traffic he watches from an overpass railing, he falls and eventually gets
sucked into a speeding vehicle’s fuel tank. This turns the garden snail into a mighty mollusk, and from
then on he would be called “Turbo”.
Life
from the point of view of garden snails is sensitively rendered in the footages
covering the tomato patch, effectively moving human imagination to empathize
with the slow-moving creatures.
How awful it must be to exist only to survive from day to day, waiting
for a ripe tomato to tumble down your path so you can eat, and learning the
perfect moment to tuck and roll in order to avoid being killed! On that premise, director David Soren,
with fellow scriptwriters Darren Lemke and Robert Siegel, tries to justify a
success story starring a small and weak character who’s thought to be incapable
of greatness. Don’t be surprised
to hear “Eye of the tiger” theme from Rocky III in Turbo’s
thumping soundtrack—that’s because Turbo evokes the spirit of Rocky Balboa in the way it champions
the underdog in this fanciful animation.
Turbo may be one of two movies showing at present without
murders, homicides, the elimination of one’s enemies, or the annihilation of
the human race, but it doesn’t mean it’s as wholesome as Cinderella. It’s a whimsical tale of two sets of
brothers—human and snail. In
either set, there is the realistic brother—believing in hard, repetitive work,
accepting of reality, trying to talk sense into his more ambitious sibling—and
the brother who dreams big and will try the untried in order to rise above his
boring situation. Contrasting
values are well-presented, as though to leave the audience to themselves to
take sides, but as the story develops it becomes apparent that the balance is
tilted to favor the brothers who dream big and see their dream come true
against all odds. Because of
the victory of Turbo, the taco brothers and the other shop owners in their
neighborhood are able to improve their businesses.
In
guiding your children through this movie, at least two things merit a careful
glance: first, the supernatural powers the snail got from substances it would
not normally ingest to nourish itself.
In the human experience there are chemicals that could produce a similar
effect on users—making them feel they are superhuman and can fly and be
invincible—and the illegal use of them is a crime. Such use of boosting chemicals may look funny, even
adorable, on a snail, but how will your imitative kids discern the
difference? Will it not send a
message to children that in order to be strong or an achiever you have to imbibe
of forbidden substances?
Second: Tito, the lazy brother in the taco
stand, and the other shop owners bettered their lot through gambling. They gambled—they did not think of
changing their work attitudes, or of creative ways to improve their service, to
upgrade their skills, or to offer higher quality goods to customers—they
gambled. What is this saying about
hard and honest work? What is to
stop them (in possible a sequel) from egging Turbo on to another Indianapolis
500 race, investing in a sport that endangers the snail’s life while hoping to
win more quick bucks?
Imagine how different the story would be if Turbo got his
powers from a pool of tomato juice (yes, like Popeye who got his muscles from
downing canned spinach), and dreamed of things that would benefit the snail
community (instead of competing in a sports that wastes the earth’s
resources). Then maybe, just
maybe, CINEMA would give Turbo a GP rating, but as it is, we recommend strict
parental guidance, even to adults who wouldn’t see anything suspicious in
cartoons.
