I Saw Turbo Today...

Spoiler Alert: Do Not Continuing Reading If You Have Yet To See Turbo and Want To!

And it was a very nice movie. Was it the greatest racing movie I had ever seen? No. Best animated? No. Would I recommend it to others? Yes I would.

As I said prior, Turbo was it's own racing movie. The movie features human emotions about racing portrayed through snail. It features the ignorance of some, who see oval racing as only left turn after left turn and as easy as can be. It features the passionate love fans share for the Indianapolis 500 and the heart-pounding nerves the race can cause regardless of year, chassis, engines and drivers competing in the race.

The storyline development starts like most children films. One has a dream unconceivable to others, he is doubted and doubted and mocked for his fantasy and ultimately causes harm and is ultimately forced into exile for his actions. He meets a fellow character who shares or believes in his dream and will support him all the way. Finally comes the moment of truth where the hero's dream is going to come to fruition. The hero has a rival to compete with and ultimately there is the dream coming true (in this case, the Indianapolis 500).

Where the movie loses me and this isn't just the case with Turbo but many movies coming out of Hollywood today is the end. The script writers are trying to write the unscriptable ending. They are trying to write Manchester City coming back from two down in the final four minutes to win the English Premier League title. They are trying to write Boise State over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. They are trying to write the human will stories that can only be seen in the moment. They are not something you can write, they can only be lived. Turbo's final twelve minutes is Hollywood trying too hard. If anything, they tried to take the final lap of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 to the next level and, as with the Manchester City and Boise State examples, they tried to script the unscriptable. Not to mention the final moments do resemble the final moments in a racing movie Will Ferrell starred in. The writers should have created a natural ending that is reasonable for an auto race. I am not saying create a dull finish where the leader wins by nearly a lap or a race ending under full course caution but an exciting finish that is realistic. If they had to choice a real race finish to recreate for the film, they should have looked to the 1982 Indianapolis 500 or the end to the 2007 IRL race at Chicagoland.

Now, does an everyday person have the same critical approach to the end of the film as I do? Hell no. Do my years of watching races and seeing how they end cloud my ability to take an already unrealistic movie and not be critical of how unrealistic the finish to race was? Hell yes. Overall, it was a good movie. I wish the end was more believable but if others took it for what it was worth and enjoyed it, who am I to be critical? It was a good film and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and if you haven't seen it, don't let my words sway you from not going. Go and enjoy it.