There’s a saying in science fiction: you get one free pass; one thing that you’re allowed to just let the audience assume. This could be the existence of the warp drive / replicators in Star Trek or the force in Star Wars.

Here in Turbo, there are really two to start out with: that snails have their own intelligent society and that an accident with nitrous oxide¹ could grant super powers rather than death. Sure, we’ll give them that.  But in neither case do they really take it all of the way. Ostensibly, Turbo is set in our world. But then why in the world don’t people react to a super fast snail? Why doesn’t anyone seem to react to how intelligent they seem to be?

And then there’s the third assumption: that a snail could / would / should race in the Indianapolis 500²… If the movie were about a race between animals (cheetahs, falcons, etc), sure. But something about cars racing a snail–I just couldn’t do it. That was the straw that broke the camel of disbelief’s back.

That being said, Turbo had a few genuinely funny moments. The running White Shadow gag was funny and the other snails each had distinct enough personalities. Despicable Me 2 or Monsters University) (if that’s still in theaters).

Overall, it’s okay. That’s by far the best I could say. #19 it is.