Herbie: Fully Loaded
 Scraps  rates it:    Community rates it: (no ratings yet)
   275 of 574 readers found this review helpful.

Say what you will about Disney as a corporation, there are two things that they do very well; marketing their products, and cranking out great family films. Sure, some are absolute dogs, but some theatrical releases would make Uncle Walt proud.

Herbie is definately the latter.

One thing I loved about the movie is how it stuck true to the original. This isn’t about a new model Bug, this is THE original. And he’s not stopping crimes or any of that foolishness, he’s out to make his master happy and drive like a maniac.

His new owner is Maggie Peyton, played by a terrific Lindsay Lohan. Her father’s (Michael Keaton) family racing business is on the skids, and they’re losing the last of their sponsors. Money’s so tight they haven’t been able to buy Lohan any t-shirts since she starred in the remake of “The Parent Trap”, they were all too short and too tight. As a cinema fan however, I appreciated the, um, realism this brought to the character.

As the family racing empire slides into ruin, Maggie learns of the magic of the little Love Bug, and suddenly there’s a Disney Silver Lining on the cloud of doom.

It won’t be easy to get Herbie on the track though. Besides her father’s reluctance to let her race, Maggie and Herbie also have to contend with Trip Murphy, the antagonistic racer played by the always outstanding Matt Dillon. In classic Disney form, he plays an evil character (heck, even his car is black!) while still being amusing.

Sure, the premise is hokey, and the story is pure Disney formula, but I enjoyed the film! I’ll go out on a limb and say that I liked it as much as the original Herbie movie. It recaptured the Disney magic of yesteryear.

By itself it’s a strong 4 cans out of 5, but Lindsay Lohan’s performance knocks it up half a can. While this is far from her swansong, this movie definitely shows she has a terrific potential, and if she can make the move from kiddie and teeny-bopper movies into more serious roles (and keep her nose clean), I predict she’ll make a hell of an actress. I’d say she has about five or six more years to hone her craft before she can reach a viable Oscar-worthy level, but when she’s nominated in 2012, remember that Scraps said it first.

Besides, any career path that gets her away from music is a step in the right direction.

Added:  Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Language: eng[ Did you find this review helpful?  Yes  No ]
[ Back to reviews index ]

Want to comment on this review?
Register here for a free user account, and you'll be able to.