Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Paul Magne Haakonsen After having read the reviews on Amazon, and of course as being a fan of Asian movies, then I decided to buy "Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers".Now having sat through it, I must say that the reviews that I read seemed to belong to an entirely other movie, because I didn't find it as interesting as they did. Sure the story is not boring, but it was rather uneventful and really didn't go anywhere. There was no particular climax to the story, and it seemed far longer than an hour and a half.The acting in "Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers" was adequate enough, though there wasn't any particularly interesting performances in the movie. The best performance was by the lead actress, Juri Ueno, however.I was expecting more from the movie, after having read it being about spies. The plot never really fully struck home and shone through on the screen. Hand on heart, then I sit here and think that this movie was basically rather plain and unnecessary.Now, having seen "Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers", the DVD will be bagged, tagged and placed on the shelf, most likely never ever to be seen again. It just didn't have that much appeal.

Tweekums I came across this film almost by chance; it was recommended on Amazon when I went to by another film. As the price was reasonable and the description sounded different I decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did as it was laugh out loud funny in several places and I found myself smiling throughout. Suzume is an ordinary housewife whose husband is away on business; when he telephones her all he is interested in is whether she has fed the pet turtle. One day as she is going about her mundane life she spots a tiny advertisement which say that anybody interested in becoming a spy should phone the given number. When she does she finds her life changing in subtle ways; having been ordered to act as ordinary as possible while awaiting an assignment she strives to do nothing that might attract attention, this is sometimes a little tricky as her friend Kujaku (Peacock) draws attention where ever she goes! She learns that several people in her town are also employed as spies for an unknown foreign country each striving to go unnoticed to the point that one is famed for his so-so ramen even though he could cook it much better.For an impulse buy this was a real treat, there were lots of laughs and some fairly surreal humour. Juri Ueno was great as Suzume and Yû Aoi was a lot of fun as Kujaku; it is a pity her character wasn't in more, the rest of the characters were also pretty funny too. The plot was never very realistic but then it was never intended to be which is why it can be forgiven the anticlimactic but very surreal ending.

Unicorn_Blade I am kind of surprised to see such low rating and bad reviews.To be quite fair, I found the movie a fantastic entertainment. I hardly ever laugh so much during the film as I did yesterday.First of all, I would not say that plot is nonexistent here. It is pretty chaotic, but that was the point here, and this is where the charm of Turtles lays. I see it in a way as a parody of the detective movies with a simple plot (a crime happened, police is chasing them, the criminal is caught). Here we have no crime, the whole spying looks a bit surreal until the very end, the detectives talk nonsense most of the time, the clumsiness of the investigation is hilarious. Many scenes look just random, but again this is why they are funny. Dancing hairdresser or the lottery with 'fabulous' prices might not add much to the development of the spy plot, but they help to create a great impression of a crazy life the main character is leading. It is the accumulation of the surprising elements and the unexpected that put the smile on my face. You can also find bits parodying teen movies (Suzume crush on Katou, and their rendez-vous years later), and once again, I could not stop laughing how awkward, but how close to real life that was. All in all, I think it is really worth giving it a chance, just sit back and relax, and if you don't expect a highly intellectual film, you might love it as I did.

acerk21 Being a fan of Yu Aoi, I make it a priority to see all of her films....at least the ones that are available with English subs. So when I came across the hilarious online trailer for "Turtles Swim Faster Than Expected", I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Lucky for me, I found a copy with English subtitles and went into it with huge expectations. Little did I know that pretty much all of the funny moments in this film are already shown in the trailer. I could compare the experience to already knowing the punchline to a joke, but then having to go through listening to the setup.The biggest problem with the movie is the story, or lack thereof. It does have an interesting premise, but definitely does not live up to its potential. I was quite disappointed with where the plot was going about half way into the film and the ending was just a mess! The film all too often strays away from the plot and gets down right ridiculous in some instances.I'm glad to say that not all is lost. Juri Ueno's performance was spectacular and her on screen charisma is what makes this film at least somewhat watchable. Yu Aoi was just as charming and adorable as she is in every film, but wasn't used nearly enough. I also must comment on the song playing at the end. It was very catchy and put a smile on my face even though the movie as a whole was a big letdown. Don't get me wrong, there are some funny parts in the movie, but they are few and far between.Overall I'm extremely disappointed even though the movie was still decent. Its more of the fact that it had so much potential and wasted it. An interesting premise + Juri and Yu would seem to be a sure thing, but instead the writers went with total absurdity + underdeveloped characters + pointless plot and thought that would somehow work.I give the film 6/10 but that is largely due to the performances of Juri and Yu.