In the spirit of honesty, I was ready to write a scathing review of Herbie: Fully Loaded. I had witty quips at the ready such as Herbie: Fully Bad or “Lohan hits a new low”. But none of them actually fit. You see, shockingly, Herbie wasn’t half bad.
Now, I’m not saying it was outright good either. It’s a kid film, you know? It’s rated freaking G. So the cap on its goodness was pretty limited, but it’s right there at the limit. It’s not actively offensive. It pretty much keeps your interest.
I’ll start with what’s wrong first and then we can get to the positive parts. The plot logic is convoluted to say the least. Some of the CG looks shaky, especially when Herbie is doing acrobatic maneuvers. There’s a line that refers to a scene that obviously was cut and the relationship between Lohan and Michael Keaton is a bit overwrought. Actually, Michael Keaton in general is a quandary. What in the world happened to his career? My final complaint is involving Ms. Lohan. When will she be taking real roles? You know, with “acting” and stuff? Let’s hope it’s now because the kid fare is getting boring.
But good can be found too. All the CG where Herbie is humanized looks pretty good. Lohan and the kid from Ed and Dodgeball (Justin Long) have nice chemistry together. The plot, while illogical, isn’t mind numbingly simplistic in the spirit of this summer’s other remakes (Longest Yard, Honeymooners). And Lindsay hasn’t been toned down in every shot if you can read between the lines. The digital reducers couldn’t get to everything!
The ideal watcher for this movie would be kids under the age of ten. I think they would generally be entertained, while none of the adults would need to drink beforehand to stand it. No, it wasn’t as fun or dynamic as the animation fare we’ve been treated to lately, but for a live action film it could have been a lot worse. Not the highest praise, I know, but when you go in expecting to see a D- and catch a C+ you are thanking your lucky stars. So I can’t bash it. I can’t even really work up a healthy dislike for old Herbie: Fully Loaded. It’s a smidge above average. Round up the kiddies and go to town!
