Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)

Very Cool!!!

Just what I expected

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I saw all the Herbie/Love Bug movies as a kid and they did not insult my intelligence as this one did. Believe it or not, the special effects were better in the 60s/70s films because they were not as obvious. Just seeing Herbie pull a sad "face" every time someone insulted his looks or ability to race was enough to make me want to vomit. After the "sad headlights" eyes effect was shown for the tenth time, I was tasting my breakfast rise up my throat, ready to puke it up and out.Just as a contrast, in the 1968 Dean Jones original, Dean buys a souped up race car halfway into the movie after Herbie wins some race(s) for him first. Later that night Herbie slams the crap out of the new racer out of jealousy and contempt. It was actually kind of frightening as a youngster to see that scene where a car can "kill" if it is pushed too far, like in a horror film.This incarnation is Herbie as a brat who pees oil on anyone who dares to question its ability to perform and win. After a third of this movie, I would have taken a blow torch to Herbie until his "sad eyes" stopped functioning. I don't care if Herbie wins the race. This is not the same love bug from almost 50 years ago. They even give Herbie a "girlfriend" car who also drives on her own. Give me a break. Avoid at all costs, unless you swallowed some poison by accident and need to throw up quickly.

Maggie Peyton loves racing.She is in line with a job for ESPN as a broadcaster of NASCAR.But she loves to be behind the wheel rather than being behind the broadcast panel.Despite the non-approval of her father who happens to be a former stock car race driver himself,she takes out the 1963 Volkswagen with the name "Herbie" on it.Later,we get to see her persuade her dad to join his racing team and finally shows her stuff on the race track.This is definitely a wholesome movie for kids.It was remake of the film but it was apparent in it that Lindsay Lohan is no longer interested into making movies for young children and possibly pre-teens as well as teen-agers as she is ready to move into adult roles.As for adults watching it,it was definitely a light movie with possibly no thinking required.

If you end up watching this, you will probably be like me in saying that it starts off great then gradually begins to suck. It holds the attention but demands complete suspension of logic. Maggie Peyton, the new owner of Number 53 - the free-wheelin' Volkswagen bug with a mind of its own - puts the car through its paces on the road to becoming a NASCAR competitor. Fortunately the director lets the actors breathe and the music lets the atmosphere live. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. My final rating for this is 7 out of 10.

If you were asked to sit down and make a list of your favourite Disney movies, it's probably fair to say the Herbie franchise wouldn't come anywhere near pole position. Simply by dubbing a Volkswagen Beetle 'The Love Bug' in no way guarantees spontaneous affection. If that were the case, Love Story would be up there with Some Like It Hot. So it's to a mixed reception, ranging from mild nostalgia to complete apathy, that 2005's model trundles into the multiplexes, a tootlin' and a winkin' and a parpin'. Lindsay Lohan plays Maggie, daughter of Michael Keaton's racing driver, who pits herself against champion racer Trip Murphy (Dillon) in this adequate but undemanding no-brainer. And anyway, the only people who properly understood the value of a VW were The Beastie Boys.