This 3D DreamWorks cartoon — about a snail, who thinks he’s a car — gets off to an atrocious start. Theo (Ryan Reynolds) goes from zero to hero when he gets entangled in a drag race. Why? How? Just ’cos. But things improve as soon as his newly speedy self tumbles into a shopping mall, where he starts verbally jousting with an artificially boosted mollusc known as Whiplash (Samuel L Jackson), then comes to the attention of sweet, un-macho Tito (Michael Pena), a Mexican taco-maker fixated on urban decay.
It’s rare for a cartoon to dwell on inner-city wastelands and even more intriguing that the races organised by Whiplash boast a Paralympics vibe. Theo, aka Turbo, has to prove himself against real cars but everything about the closing stretch of the race — including a pastiche of viral social media clips, complete with a bloomin’ catchy techno song — works.
Half-term holidays can be murder and parents need a good kids’ movie like a snail needs a shell. Turbo is way more fun for grown-ups than Cars, Cars 2 or Despicable Me 2 but is also guaranteed to make kids chuckle. Praise be, it fits the bill.
