Trailer Tuesday: Turbo

I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm getting older, growing up in both body and mind. You see, once upon a time I would watch pretty much every animated film that came out. These days I find myself ruling out a chunk of the cinema releases because, well, they really don't appeal to me. Too manic. Too kiddie-orientated. Too tired a concept.

And I'm sad to say that's how I feel about Turbo, the second animated comedy to come from DreamWorks Animation's new alliance with 20th Century Fox (previously, all DreamWorks animated films were distributed by Paramount).

Now the film's feature trailer gives you a better idea of the plot, but in short Theo, AKA Turbo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) is a garden snail who dreams of speed, and a fast-paced, exciting life. He gets his wish when he's exposed to nitrous oxide during a street race and develops freakish racing abilities. Defying the odds, he ends up competing in the Indy 500. Also providing voices for the film are Paul Giamatti, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Pena, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Ken Jeong and Michelle Rodriguez.

Look, the fact that Turbo centres on motor racing immediately turns me off the film, no matter how technically polished it looks. Plus it seems like the movie is an unsubtle attempt by DreamWorks and Fox to mirror the success of the uber-successful Cars franchise from Pixar and Disney. Hell, a Turbo video game adaptation and TV series are both already on the way.

The only thing that marginally piques my interest about the film is the fact that Samuel L Jackson voices a snarky snail racer. Otherwise, I find myself yawning at the one-note underdog concept. Can we please move on from the tired "ignore critics; you can be anything you want" message now?

Screening in 2D and 3D, Turbo releases in North America on 17 July. The film opens in South Africa on 6 September.