Turbo Review

                               

            When I watched Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter I thought to myself “There’s no way a movie premise could possibly get more ridiculous than this.”  Of course just a year later DreamWorks was there to prove me wrong with Turbo.  However, for a set-up as absurd as a snail racing in the Indy 500, they play it surprisingly straight and while it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting they didn’t really do anything to make it memorable either. 

            The story centers around a garden snail named Theo (Ryan Reynolds) or as he prefers to be called “Turbo.”  He constantly dreams of being a world famous race-car driver which (naturally) causes him to be the subject of ridicule among his co-workers and embarrassment to his straight-laced brother Chet (Paul Giamatti).  Then one night Turbo gets himself sucked into a drag racer where his DNA bonds with the car’s nitrous oxide which gives him super speed and several features of a car (headlights, radio, alarm, etc.).  Shortly afterwards, he and Chet are captured by Tito (Michael Pena), who runs a struggling taco truck with his brother Angelo (Luis Guzman).  Tito starts by entering Turbo in snail races and predictably Turbo blows the other snails out of the water.  So of course the next logical step is to enter Turbo in the Indy 500 (sure why not?).         

            The animation is pretty good most of the time but for a film with a plot as unique as Turbo, it’s surprisingly lacking in imagination and originality.  Almost everything that happens in this movie has been done before and much better.  Just off the top of my head I can see them borrowing from Cars, Ratatouille, Spider-Man and even Talladega Nights.  I might’ve enjoyed this more if the writers took more chances to make something inventive.  Unfortunately, Turbo takes zero risks and as a result every scene feels clichéd and predictable.  For example, when it’s inevitably pointed out that snails don’t compete in the Indy 500, Tito uses the old plot device that there’s nothing in the rule book that says a snail can’t race (a statement so ridiculous I don’t even know where to start) or as I like to call it the Air Bud Defense.  There’s also the arrogant champion racer who seems to exist because DreamWorks felt an obligation to include a villain. 

            There’s nothing that’s particularly horrible about Turbo but everything about it is just so bland that I felt absolutely nothing for it.  I didn’t feel love, hate or anger or really any other emotion besides indifference.  Adults probably won’t get anything out of this but it’s a good way to keep your kids busy for an hour and a half.   

Grade: C+ 

Despicable Me 2 Review

                                    

            In the first Despicable Me the minions were mostly background characters that provided the occasional comic relief.  This time around in Despicable Me 2 the minions are pretty much front and center while the plot happens around them.  Admittedly, it’s difficult to fault the producers for this decision when the minions are easily the best and most marketable part of the movie.  The problem is that it occasionally feels like they’re just killing time until the Minions spinoff movie next year.  

            As the sequel begins Gru (Steve Carell) has more or less settled happily into his new role as a father and after his moon stealing episode seems to have retired from his work as a super-villain completely.  He is then recruited by the Anti-Villain League (who for some reason were nowhere to be found in the first movie) to find out who stole a powerful potion that turns living organisms into giant, furry, purple abominations.  Gru reluctantly agrees and goes undercover at the local shopping mall with AVL agent and obligatory love-interest Lucy (Kristen Wiig).  Gru quickly begins to suspect the culprit to be Mexican restaurant owner Eduardo Perez (Benjamin Bratt) whom he believes to bear a striking resemblance to the supposedly deceased super-villain “El Macho.”   His suspicions aren’t helped when Eduardo’s son Antonio (Moises Aries) begins to take an interest to his oldest daughter Margo (Miranda Cosgrove).  Meanwhile the minions are being quietly kidnapped as part of the mysterious villain’s plot.   

As anybody that saw the first film might’ve expected the minions are absolutely hilarious.  They’re as incoherent as ever but just like the last movie they’re cute, charming and make for great slapstick comedy.  For me the comedy highlights are two of the minions accidently parasailing from a moving car and singing their own renditions of “Y.M.C.A.” and “I Swear” in their trademark gibberish.  Their antics don’t necessarily advance the plot, but all of their individual scenes are so funny that for the most part it never really bothered me that much.      

The problem with the minions greatly increased screen time is that it takes away from the character development of pretty much everybody else.  Gru spends most of what little change he is given acting as a comic foil for the romance between Margo and Antonio and then eventually trying to woo Lucy.  Halfway through it dawned on me that Gru has basically been reduced to being a sitcom dad.  The youngest daughter Agnes’ only motivation in the entire film is that she wants a mother.  She doesn’t seem to be particularly concerned with what kind of mother as long as she gets one, to the point that the second she meets Lucy she wastes absolutely no time in trying to encourage her to get together with Gru.  Of course that’s more than I could say for the growth of middle child Edith (I had to look her name up on Wikipedia) and Gru’s assistant Dr. Nefario who both look to have almost disappeared from the plot altogether.  What’s really confusing about the broader focus on the minions is that they’ve already got their own movie coming out next year which makes me question why they couldn’t simply wait until that movie to make them the protagonists.  

            Despicable Me 2 for better or worse feels mostly like a rehash of the original.  The audience wanted to see more of the minions and Despicable Me 2 delivers.  While it’s hard to get angry at the producers for giving the audience what they wanted it also makes it a little difficult for me to truly take it seriously as a film.  They obviously went to great lengths to increase the minion’s appeal but I just wish they had put same effort towards everybody else. 

Grade: B-

Top 5 Movies I Can't Wait To See- Fall 2013

    1.      12 Years a Slave

       

          Release Date- October 18^th  

       

          Starring- Chiwetel Ejiofer, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano

       

          What It’s About- Based on the autobiography of the same name, 12 Years a Slave tells the story of               Solomon Northup, a free and educated black man who in 1841 is kidnapped and sold into slavery.                 What follows is twelve years of working on Louisiana plantations before he is finally found by his wife in         1853.    

      

          Why I Want To See It- While the plot is certainly an interesting enough reason to watch it, the main               attraction for me is Ejiofer and Fassbender.  They are both truly wonderful, underrated actors and I am           looking forward to seeing them in a film where they can get some long overdue recognition. 

  

    2.      Dallas Buyers Club

          

          Release Date- November 1^st

          Starring- Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner

          What It’s About- Dallas electrician Ron Woodroof, is diagnosed with HIV in 1986 and given 30 days to       live.  When his FDA approved medication proves to be useless he decides to smuggle some more                 effective but also illegal drugs in from Mexico.  Eventually other HIV/AIDS patients start to seek him out         for the medications and with some help from his doctor and a transvestite named Rayon: Woodroof               starts the Dallas Buyers Club, a service that provides its paying members with alternative drugs.

          Why I Want To See It- McConaughey has surprised me the last couple of years by actually doing some         good movies and more amazingly giving some good performances.  In Dallas Buyers Club however, he         seems to be taking it to another level even going so far as to lose almost 40 pounds for the role.  I never         thought I would say this a few years ago but I can’t wait for McConaughey’s next movie.

    3.      Thor: The Dark World

          

          Release Date- November 8^th

          

          Starring- Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins

          What It’s About- Thor has returned to Asgard and now faces a mysterious enemy known as the Dark           Elves who are older than the universe itself.  They are so powerful that Thor must forge a shaky alliance         with the treacherous Loki if he hopes to stop them and keep the world from plunging into eternal                     darkness.

          Why I Want To See It- I think that after Iron Man 3, Marvel proved they can still make good movies             after The Avengers and I believe Thor: The Dark World will be just as good.  Also, with Doctor Who         playing a comic book villain, how could I possibly resist?

    4.      The Wolf of Wall Street

          Release Date- November 15^th

          Starring- Leonardo Dicaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Jean Dujardin

          What It’s About- The Wolf of Wall Street tells the story and eventual downfall of wealthy New York           stockbroker Jordan Belfort. 

          Why I Want To See It- For me it’s mostly because of Martin Scorsese.  He’s one of my favorite                   directors and I’m really excited to see how his follow-up to Hugo turns out.  Also, from I saw from the           trailer it looks to be similar to Goodfellas but with stockbrokers instead of gangsters.   

   

    5.      The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

          Release Date- November 22^nd

          Starring-Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Phillip Seymour               Hoffman

   

          What It’s About- After the events of The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta’s victory begins to spark a       rebellion within the other districts.  In an effort to squash the rebellion, the Capitol forces previous winners       from the Hunger Games to compete against each other again, including Katniss and Peeta. 

          Why I Want To See It- While I admit that I didn’t enjoydnt I admit that i  reading Catching Fire quite as much as I did the     first book I still found it to be pretty good.  Also, some of the actors that have been added to The Hunger     Games: Catching Fire cast has me cautiously optimistic that this sequel might actually improve on the           original.