Review: ‘Turbo’

Cinema frequently asks the audience to suspend their disbelief, but never more than this preposterous tale of a snail taking on the Indy 500. But take that leap – this is the most fun you’re likely to have in a cinema this school holidays.

Turbo is a speed-obsessed snail who discovers the joys of motor racing through his illicit viewing of the sport on a TV in the garden shed where he lives. He’s dissatisfied with his life in a suburban the tomato patch where daily perils include bird-snatches and an evil trike-riding toddler who likes the crunch of snails under his wheels.

When he escapes the yard and heads out into the real world, Turbo is sucked into a car’s engine and is infused with a miracle energy that gives him super-speed. It’s this speed that brings him into the sphere of another dreamer, Tito, a taco-store worker who wants more than to drive a taco van through neighborhoods where no one wants to buy tacos. On the side he races snails, so when he finds Turbo, he knows he’s made.

Turbo’s speed easily blows all other snail competition away, so Tito sets his sights on the big time: the Indy 500. He’s sure that entering a snail is just the gimmick he and his brother need to bring their franchise into the public eye.

The parallels between Turbo’s cautious brother, Chet, and Tito’s brother are clear, and the good-natured bickering between both sets of brothers is both realistic and humorous. The colourful assortment of urban snails who are out to teach Turbo lessons about the real world are also hilarious.

Bill Hader’s champion Indy driver, Guy Gagne, is all French arrogance and snobbery – a fine foil for the speedy snail – and the kids I saw this with cheered when he got his eventual comeuppance.

The animation is slick and each snail has its own visual quirks to distinguish it. I’m not a fan of racing, or of animation usually, but something about the ridiculousness of the situations portrayed here, and the emotional heart, really had me captured.

If you’re looking for something to entertain your kids with this holidays, you could do far worse than this charming little flick.

7/10

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