Turbo

Super fast snail cartoon. Yeah, it didn't really pump our 'nads, either. But Turbo was one of the better reviewed movies of the summer, and The Barbarienne was looking forward to it, so off we went to see it. (Well, not The Flower. She has rather high standards.)

Cribbing heavily from A Bug's Life and Finding Nemo, not to mention the Fast and Furious franchise, this is the story of a snail who dreams of being in the Indy 500. His ambitions cause his community, and especially his conservative brother, all kinds of difficulty, resulting in him being alienated from said community. A freak accident gives him super-speed and he winds up on the snail racing circuit in a mini-mall full of stereotypes, both human and gastropodan.

Ultimately, a human discovers his powers and decides to enter him in the Indy 500 as a promotional ploy to save the mini-mall.

Voiced forgettably by a bunch of celebs, of course, with notable exceptions being Paul Giamatti as Turbo's crusty brother, Samuel L. Jackson as the snail version of Samuel L. Jackson, and Bill Hader as a snooty French-Canadian. I also spotted Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong and Michelle Rodriguez as their various ethnic stereotypes.

Other people who might have been replaced by anyone else include Ryan Reynolds as Turbo, Snoop Dog, Michael Pena, Luis Guzman, etc.

The Barbarienne loved it, of course, though she didn't give it her "best movie ever" rating, which might be a reflection on her personal growth, rather than on the film itself. The Boy found it mildly amusing but also noted that he just really didn't care about any of the characters.

The formula is strong in this one. It stakes out little original ground but gets by on energy and good will, and some successful gags. Time has cooled some of the enthusiasm for the film, and it's higher initial ratings may have to do with the large number of high profile summer flops.