Amidst the high-octane but dull background score turbo What stands out is the sound of someone stepping on the accelerator, which plays every time ‘Turbo’ Jose (Mammootty) is about to get into one of his constant battles. This is a warning for his impending attack, a way of increasing anticipation. Although the promised action ensues, it’s all built on such a weak foundation that after a point one almost stops caring whether the vehicle reaches top speed or not.

But, considering the fact that filmmaker Vysakh’s previous work was disastrous DemonWhat do we get turbo This is definitely an improvement. turbo It appears to be working on the philosophy that a film only needs a minimal story to provide an excuse to perform all the action set pieces and fill in the gaps between them. Screenwriter Midhun Manuel Thomas’s job here is to provide just that. Thus, he doesn’t get an opportunity to take a downward slide in his screenwriting career.

‘Turbo’ Jose is shown as a normal person, who is always involved in fights. After one such fight, it is revealed that the goons’ target was not Jose, but his friend Jerry (Shabarish Verma), who is in love with Indulekha (Anjana Jayaprakash). Jose’s attempts to help his friend lead to unintended consequences, leading to the action shifting to Chennai. Shortly thereafter their paths cross with Vetrivel Shanmuga Sundaram (Raj B. Shetty), a shady businessman who is attempting to gain power through some good old horse trading in Tamil Nadu, which is very common these days. Is in vogue.

Vysakh and Midhun have used the initial half of the film to set up this story without any ambiguity or grey shades, and left the latter half for all the chases and long-drawn-out action sequences. This ends up being one of the things that pulls the film down, as there are really no surprises once the banking scam at the centre of the plot is revealed. In an otherwise flat screenplay filled with all the clichés, Midhun has introduced some interestingly written portions, like Auto Billa’s (Sunil) Marlon Brando act in a seedy mall where Jose reveals his true self to his boss or Jose’s narration of a painful episode from his childhood to explain his closeness with his mother (Bindu Panicker).

But, in the end, ‘Turbo’ will be remembered for recycling all the old tropes that have been a part of the genre since time immemorial and for its reluctance to try anything new. Like every other movie these days, this one too ends with the promise of a sequel. As for the level of confidence that ‘Turbo’ Jose has in the movie, that’s a must.