Herbie Fully Loaded

I can sit through this movie once, but I doubt I could make it through a second time. Mildly entertaining mainly for the physical presence of Lindsay Lohan. The fun of Matt Dillon(think Something About Mary), and the re-emergence of a more serious acting Micheal Keaton. This is not the fun romp The Love Bug was but it is watchable. One of my main detractions from the movie was the fact that Herbie had evolved into R2D2 antics for the most part. I was bored with the headlight eyes effects about the second time of the 30 or so times they were used and the bending front fender caused the same reaction from me. Go see this with your little ones, i.e. the "single digit bracket" kids and don't expect a lot from this film.

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When Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan) graduates from college, her father Ray Peyton Sr. (Michael Keaton) gives an used car from a scrap metal yard as a gift, and she takes a 1963 Volkswagen beetle with the number 53. Maggie finds a letter in the glove compartment telling that the bug's name is Herbie and she visits her friend and mechanic Kevin (Justin Long) to check Herbie. They go to a car show where they are challenged by the arrogant champion racer Trip Murphy (Matt Dillon) for a race. Maggie and Herbie win Trip, and the revengeful pilot plots a scheme to take Herbie from Maggie.

"Herbie Fully Loaded" is delightfully cute and a magnificent family entertainment. The story is predictable, corny, but mainly adorable. The sweet Lindsay Lohan is perfect for this type of role, and Matt Dillon performs a great villain. Take the popcorn, join family and friends and have a good-time watching "Herbie Fully Loaded" on DVD. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Herbie, Meu Fusca Turbinado" ("Herbie, My Turbined Beetle")

When I was a kid (long ago), I saw all four "Herbie" movies, and I can remember being kind of underwhelmed by them even at that tender age. In fact, I thought the last two of the original four were really lame. So I made it a point to avoid "Herbie Fully Loaded" when it came out. But it came on television recently, and I decided to give it a chance since I'd be seeing it for free.

I was surprised. Now, I will admit that the movie has its share of flaws. It doesn't explain why Herbie, in the time between the previous movie and this movie went downhill as a racer, and why Herbie had been forgotten by the racing community (and its audience) - you would think a Beetle that kept winning races would be remembered by SOMEONE! I could go on with listing its flaws, but I found its charms outweighed its flaws. For starters, the protagonists are very likable, down to earth and not annoyingly goofy. And Dillon's character of the rival racer was not broad and instead more of a realistic villain.

The special effects are a mix of "old school" effects like the original movies used, mixed in with CGI. I actually found the combination worked, blending with each other well.

I'm not saying that this is a movie to actively seek out... but if you come across it while in a silly mood, I think there's a good chance you'd find it an agreeable way to pass the time.

I suppose I could just really rake this movie over the coals if I wanted to, but what's the point? It'd be like beating a physically handicapped kid in arm wrestling - it's way easy, but you walk away without really accomplishing anything, and you feel kind of bad afterwards.

Plus, I'm not exactly part of the main demographic for this movie, and if you aren't part of the demographic, then why would you even consider paying money to see it? What are you expecting? This is a movie about a lifelike car that spits exhaust in the faces of bad guys, leaks oil on their bad guy shoes, and opens its trunk, doors, or glove compartment whenever something needs to be revealed or somebody needs to be strategically hit in a slapstick manner. If those types of shenanigans send you rolling down the aisles in apoplectic fits of laughter then you're in luck. However, if you're like me and aren't quite so easily amused then you might want to veer your hard-earned dollars in another direction.

Even though I've never been a fan of the Herbie series, and this movie did nothing to make me a convert, there are some positives. The most important being that Lindsay Lohan is looking very good and is in fine pre-anorexia, pre-fake blonde form. She claims her current look (Ode De Skeletal Olsen Twin) is for a movie she's doing in which she plays a fashion designer, and she promises to put her weight back on. I hope so because she definitely looks better with a little meat on them bones! The second positive is that the entire cast is giving it their best. They're not given great material to work with, but at least they look like they're having a little fun. I'm quite sure Matt Dillon is well aware that this isn't exactly a step up from his previous movie, Crash, but he doesn't use that as an excuse to phone in his performance, so I have to give credit there.

I think they should've renamed the movie though. I would've suggested Herbie: Fully Loaded WITH MUSIC MONTAGES! Sheesh. I honestly don't think I've ever seen one movie with that many montages. At times I thought I was watching a series of Disney music videos. What in the world? Was this a prime example of avoiding dialogue? Oh well. At times boring, and never threatening to entice riotous laughter, Herbie at least moves along at a decent pace and is never quite so stupid that it's intellectually insulting, so I won't be too harsh. I'm sure it's loads of fun for the really young (under 7). However, when I asked my 10-year-old brother what he thought of the movie he replied, "It was OK." When I asked if he thought it was funny he replied, "Kind of. I guess." Not exactly a ringing endorsement but not a total condemnation either.

This comical Herbie story concerns about Maggie(Lindsay Lohan),recently graduated,she receives a gift from her father(Michael Keaton),instead a new car she takes a magical Wolkswagen Bug named Herbie with a mind of its own from a junkyard.Herbie takes her for a ride and stumbles into ¨Kevin car shop¨run a mechanic(Justin Long),a former friend from her.Maggie,Kevin and Herbie undergo a test drive and takes spontaneously place a race cars against the racer Murphy(Matt Dillon) and results to be Wolkswagen the winner.As always,Herbie the love bug,is helping the young couple find romance but encountering all sorts of hilarious obstacles along the way.Herbie with the number 53 intervenes in the biggest race cars located in Daytona to compete in the Grand Prize, acting as pilot Maggie substituting her brother(Brenkyn Meyer) ,a challenge among top competitors circle the world's most famous racing circuits and quickly slipping in the ranking.

This typical Disney slapdash film displays great loads of amusement,fun,giggles,race cars and is pretty entertaining.It's an enjoyable movie for kids and for those who like cars racing round and round and bounds and leaps by Herbie.The actors seem to enjoy immensely,Lindsay Lohan,a real star with ¨Mean Girls¨,plays of sympathetic manner and Matt Dillon as excessive villain is top notch.After several years with no rendition is shot this delightful film,the original film turns out to be : ¨The love bug¨(1969)by Robert Stevenson,followed by ¨Herbie rides again,Herbie goes to Montecarlo,Herbie goes bananas¨among others and a TV series followed,the most part filmed by Stevenson and Vincent McEveety and usually starred by Dean Jones. The actual version is amusing and with lots of laughs but is a familiar film .The motion picture is correctly directed by Angela Robinson.Worthwhile seeing ,it's a great fun to watch.