Turbo

     This was a difficult review to start... Not because I don't know what to say, because I know exactly what I want to say. The problem is, the words are so damn annoying... So, I will be loquacious about it.

"Do not presume to know the contents of a lexicon simply by the luster of its bindings."

In more simple terms, "Don't judge a book by its cover"

Bleh, I hate that cliché... But it is true here.

Turbo is a good movie. Is it a very original movie? No, but then again, only watching paint dry is original now. Does it have flaws? Sure, I can point out a couple, but they don't really hurt it at all.

Could it have been better? Not really... Even if the flaws in the movie were fixed, it would still be about the same. It's basically the same thing as Disney's Tarzan; it's a good movie, and they did all they had to with it, and about all they could do. If they had tried to do more, I feel they would've over done it, and made the movie try to present itself as more grandiose than it actually was.
It's a pretty small scale story (no pun intended), of a snail who wants to be fast (mostly because his life is so boring and monotonous), and races in the Indianapolis 500. (By the way, I am not a racing fan, so my mind kept saying Daytona 500, rather than Indie, because Daytona sounds cooler.)

However, I feel that Turbo was more just a filler movie for Dreamworks. It'll make some money, which can be put towards other projects, like Kung Fu Panda 3, and How to Train Your Dragon 3 (If you're wondering about 2, it is coming in June next year. I was at first negative about it, afraid Dreamworks would screw up my favorite animated movie, but now when I see the new teaser for it on the big screen... My shyness and acknowledgement of others is the only thing keeping me from shouting "WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!"). Being filler doesn't make it bad, it just makes it unlikely to be someone's favorite movie, and more likely to be something you put in the DVD player to keep the kids quiet for an hour or so, and don't have to feel guilty about because they aren't watching crap.

Turbo is funny, enjoyable, and just generally fun and happy. Animation fans will certainly enjoy it, kids as well; and generally anyone going into the movie just to have a good time. Just don't expect it to be groundbreaking; it's a snail in a race, the ground is fairly resistant to snails breaking it.


Though there is one thing I want to note... Every racing film has a villain, it is always the super pretentious 3-5 time champ, or just some random guy who is the favorite to win. For 3/4ths of the movie, this film appeared to lack that. The person who was the winner in previous years was a good guy, and the main character's idol; he was also the one to convince the people running the indie 500 to let Turbo race, and was also friendly with Turbo later in his shop... But then he becomes the pretentious villain, willing to even kill Turbo to win. In a way, I found that a step backwards. The film didn't need a villain; it would've been better if Turbo was welcomed as friendly competition, and if, when he lost, he simply congratulated Turbo. That would be original, and probably would've boosted this movie up a bit.
But, like I said before, it's somewhat of a minor problem, and wouldn't actually affect the movie that much. Still, if turbo somehow gets a sequel, don't have a villain.


This has been Fixer Sue.