Herbie Rides Again

The thing that brought this film down the most was that the only original character was the VW. I much preferred Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo for two main reasons. Firstly the main character (Jim Douglas) was there and secondly because the plot was more about the car. This film felt more like a regular comedy that happened to involve Herbie. I would've rather the film to be more about the car rather than just involving him (as the original and Monte Carlo were). Funny moments saved the film from total lameness, as did the amusing 1974 special effects (was there really as many special effects people involved as were listed in the credits to get these results?). Not all the charm of the lovable car was lost on the plot that didn't involve him as he still played his part when the chips were down. In terms of acting, Herbie was obviously the best performance followed (albeit by a large margin) by Keenan Wynn as the baddie. I think he actually did a better job as the baddie than David Tomlinson did in the original 1968 film The Love Bug.

Helen Hayes is the single-minded "Mrs. Steinmetz". She is determined not to be forced from her alleged "firetrap" home by the mall-building millionaire "Hawk" (Keenan Wynn). Luckily she has "Nicole" (Stefanie Powers) to help out - and she proves especially useful when "Hawk" sends his gullible nephew "Willoughby" (Ken Berry) to try and charm the old woman from her home. Now she is the aunt of "Tennessee" (from "Love Bug" - 1969) and happens to be the new owner of "Herbie" and it's clear that our honourable VW is unwavering is a desire to help the old girl too. Battle lines are drawn and soon the wrecking balls are at the ready, the cleaning foam hoses are primed and we get ninety minutes of rather predictable slap-stick capers. It's not that this is a bad film, indeed both Hayes and the megalomanic Wynn are both quite good, it's just that there's nowhere near enough of our magical car, and what we do get is all just a bit routine. Berry is a relatively charm free foil for what limited humour there is and the story is all just a bit too thin and procedural. It comes across as a sequel for the sake of it, rather than because anyone involved had any passion for the project, and though perfectly watchable it is equally perfectly forgettable.

Herbie the Volkswagon is one of my childhood favorites and this is the movie I discovered Him.

Seeing this movie again, I ended up loving it all over again and think it is a pretty good family movie.

A weird thing about this movie is that even though it was filmed in 1973, it looks like it was made in the mid sixties. I guess it was Stephanie Powers's character's sense of style and the heavy use of sets and rear projection.

The Volkswagon beatle has always had a persona to it and the Herbie movies highlight it.

"The Love Bug" and "Herbie Rides Again" are great examples of the child like spirit of Disney at their best.

Willoughby Whitfield comes to work for his uncle Alonzo Hawk in a development company. His first job is to force the owner of an old fire station to shift off land earmarked for development. However Willoughby makes friends with the owners, including their eccentric car Herbie, and finds out about his Uncle's dirty tricks to move the residents on and joins with them to stop his uncle.

This is a late Herbie movie – but really his appeal never goes away (they just remade The Love Bug). However here much has changed since his original appearance. Here the story doesn't involve him that much until the last half – up till then it could easily be any movie, and his scenes feel forced into the plot. That's not to say it's not good – but the story isn't as interesting as his race-car incarnation. There are some funny bits, like the dream sequence of Mr Hawk, but even the silly stuff that has Herbie driving up suspension bridges will please kids!

Also where `Herbie Goes Bananas' benefited from a good support cast – this has no one to speak of. Not only has Dean Jones left (a big, big loss to the film) but no-one is good enough to provide any human interest. Berry makes a dull figure who can't do comedy, and Stefanie Powers is only of interest because, well, because it's Stefanie Powers! The only interest comes from Wynn's bellowing bad guy and Hayes' sweet grandmother. Herbie is OK but he is in charge the whole time and has maybe lost a touch of the `lovable little guy' appeal that he had in The Love Bug.

Overall kids will love it, and it isn't a bad Herbie movie – it's just not as good as the first couple. But really – you know what to expect and it delivers nothing more.

In the first movie, Herbie was a real personality and he could be jealous, angry, depressed or suicidal and even intoxicated. The viewer saw that there was a special bond between car and owner. But in this sequel, again set in San Francisco, the bond is with Helen Hayes and Herbie instead of the man. Stephanie Powers as the love interest is too violent and aggressive, and her character played against the wimpy Ken Berry comes across as downright harsh--there is no chemistry between them (unlike Dean Jones and Michelle Lee in the original film). In various scenes, she is seen assaulting Berry.In one scene they are having lunch at Fisherman's Wharf and she stands up and smacks him in the face with a lobster ("He's YOUR uncle?!") Is this really supposed to be funny?

But in this uninspired sequel, the real star is Helen Hayes--not the car and certainly not with Ken Berry, who merely becomes a supporting character in this. Helen Hayes, as an old lady battling a developer, is seen in various life-threatening situations in the movie. In various surreal scenes, Haye's character is knitting while riding Herbie,impervious to the danger around her as Herbie scales a skyscraper or rides atop the Golden Gate Bridge. She is sickeningly sacharrin sweet but she plays her scenes well.

The climax of this movie is weak, and it is really a collection of surreal scenes involving Herbie and Helen Hayes. There is no romance and no racing, both of which were key elements which made the original such a success. This movie was made in the transitional period, between the really great Disney classics like "Mary Poppins" and the excellent productions that Disney puts out today. The movie and plot are very predictable as is the inevitable outcome. Naturally, there's no way that the outcome is realistic as city zoning laws forbid houses in a district of skyscrapers.