Herbie Fully Loaded

Herbie is back and ready for another adventure. The Herbie movies have always been about being dumb and silly and this movie is no exception. This latest movie in the series takes a different approach to the little car. This movie gives the little car to a teenage girl (they try to act like she is a college graduate but she is clearly a high school student) instead of a middle ages has-been race car driver. This gives the movie quite a different flavour.

The big mistake, in my opinion, of this movie was to change the character of Herbie himself. Instead of being an actual Volkswagon Beetle this time they used a modified car with lots of bizarre movie parts like headlights that look around and blink. And even worse, the car signs, moans and grunts. The bumper even bends so that the car can smile. It is really corny and departs from the feel of the original films. It doesn't feel like the same car anymore. I realize that the original movies were super corny. No getting around that. But this one is corny in a different way and I just don't feel that it lives up to the older cars.

Like the original movies this latest installment has a strong cast with Lindsay Lohan playing the youngest and most attractice of Herbie's drivers. Lindsay has a long tradition with Disney and it is good to see her joining another classic Disney franchise (she started her film career kicking butt in the remake of The Parent Trap.) The rest of the cast is very good as well. Definitely as strong as the original film.

Overall, the movie is fun and enjoyable. The feel is completely different than Herbie fans will remember but that isn't always bad. Personally I prefer the original but this one isn't bad. Disney's track record of late hasn't been the best and I am happy that they snuck this one through.