Review: TURBO

TURBO  (ANIMATED/KIDS)
Two and a Half out of Four Stars
Featuring the Voices of:  Ryan Reynolds, Michael Pena, Paul Giamatti, Bill Hader, Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez, Ken Jeong Maya Rudolph
PG for some mild action and thematic elements.
Verdict:  DreamWorks Animation's latest will enthrall its target audience of children under age 10, and it has moments of inspired humor, but it also returns to that old source of derision toward DreamWorks by trying very hard to be Pixar (or what Pixar was a few years ago), but lacking the heart, inspiration and/or ambition to pull it off, instead coming across as a pale, and obvious, imitation.  After about the first 45 min. of  the 96 min. feature, the charm wears off and the humor becomes dull, making the second a slightly grating experience.
YOU MIGHT LIKE TURBO IF YOU ENJOYED:
CARS
SHARK TALE
PUSS IN BOOTS
ROBOTS

TURBO is technically an original concept, in that it is not specifically based on any pre-existing media property, but the obvious evidence of borrowing from greater animated works is rampant.  For myself, it was actually a little fun to pick plot elements and scenes that were mildly revised versions of the same from Pixar Studios' films, but certainly a more skilled filmmaker might have developed his story past its inspirations.  Interestingly though, instead of developing past those starting points, TURBO seems to regress to instead eliminate any significant character development, as its characters remain static throughout the course of the story, never learning of changing, but achieving their goals (unless the character isn't very nice) with stalwart optimism, like a snail that takes an hour and a half to reach a piece of lettuce.
To be fair though, TURBO plainly doesn't stress about aiming very high (ironic, given its generic "dreamer" plot), and its clear target audience isn't expected to be older than ten, if that.  These kinds of "children's films" present a dilemma to criticism and analysis, because if they are intended for kids, what kind of expectations should there be beyond bright color, funny sounds and an ounce of slapstick?  Kids eat dirt and bugs, but that hardly makes it a quality meal, so it's unreasonable to argue that an uninspired cartoon is good simply because children enjoy it.  Then again, TURBO isn't as bad as all that either.
TURBO is the story of a snail named Theo (v. Reynolds) who dreams of racing, which is obviously ironic.  His neurotic brother, Chet (v. Giamatti) tries to encourage Theo to be "normal," to be content with the life of a snail, but one night, one of the more odd events in any animated children's movie occurs, wherein Theo winds up on a street-racing hot rod and gets sucked into the engine workings just as the driver flips on the nitrous oxide, which, in the traditional manner of a superhero movie, fuses with Theo's DNA, resulting in a complete molecular restructuring that gives him the characteristics of a car, including headlights, various alarms, radio wave reception, but most of all, 200 MPH+ speed.  From there, Theo and Chet are discovered by Tito (v. Pena) who works in a taco shop with his brother and does snail races with the other business owners at their overlooked strip mall.  After Tito discovers Theo's lightning-fast speed, he devises a plan to get the strip mall some recognition by entering Theo in the Indy 500.
It's a highly-formulaic film, and borrows very heavily from Pixar's films, in what becomes a sort of game to particular moments out, for instance:

• Theo's Indy 500 aspirations and admiration of champion racer Guy Gange (v. Hader) is very reminiscent of Remy's idolization of Chef Gusteau in RATATOUILLE.
• Again like RATATOUILLE, the concerned, ultra-cautious familial relation who eventually comes around (I don't think that counts as an actual spoiler, but if so, I am sorry).
• The introductions by the strip mall's snail racers is similar to the introduction of the Tank Gang in FINDING NEMO, with the Samuel L. Jackson-voiced Whiplash clearly filling in the Gill role.
• The racing scenes could very well be modeled after CARS

The list goes on.  Beyond that, even with moments of quirky humor, such as the nail salon proprietor Kim Ly, an old woman, who's voiced by Community's Ken Jeong, the story follows a formula like clockwork with deviation or surprise.  The film does work pretty well early in though while introducing the snail world, including the tomato garden "factory" workplace and the casually mundane responses to snails being snatched up by birds, but as the film goes on, around the 40 or 45-minute mark, it all starts to get a little grating, especially as the whole affair gets louder and goofier but with utter predictability.
If you're looking to occupy the time of a child, especially male, around the ages of four to ten or so, this film will do the trick just fine, but most of anyone older will be looking for some excuse to ease their way out by the second half.