The Movie:

Herbie hasn't hit the big screen in decades, but with the current lack of ideas from Hollywood, and the abundance of remakes making their way around, it should come as no surprise that Fully Loaded was put together. When I was younger I absolutely adored Herbie the Love Bug and the character has remained one of my favorite live action Disney personas. The only problem is that the concept wears thin after a while, a fact that is proven to be true when it comes to the newest adventure of Number 53.

Fully Loaded may be an entertaining family popcorn movie, but beyond getting a cheap laugh out of the kiddies, and guilty pleasure giggles from parents, the film is ridiculously shallow. The plot is generic, rehashed bunk with stereotypical characters and an extremely predictable course of actions. It feels almost as if the picture were put together by a manual that read like a color by numbers guide, even though there were plenty of elements here that had potential.

The single thing that I was most disappointed about was the fact that Herbie is, in many scenes, replaced by a CGI double. The effect cheapened the picture for me and essentially junked out any nostalgia that I was feeling for the '63 Volkswagen Beetle. Instead of having a concrete character, the digitally rendered Herbie came across as more of a cartoon figure than anything based in reality. That's part of the charm that the old Herbie pictures had, because in every scene, there was a solid car there to ground things out and elaborate on the illusion. I suppose that's the price you pay when you want greater special effects.

Being set in modern times is another element that kills the nostalgic feeling that surrounds Herbie. With the polarizing red head Lindsay Lohan behind the wheel, she adds an irritatingly potent amount of sex appeal that doesn't need to be in this picture. I think it's safe to say that she grew up much faster than Disney would have liked. Between her and a surprisingly horny Herbie, there are plenty of subtle gags that only older kids and adults will get, such as a part where Herbie sees a sexy newer model Bug and his antenna "springs" to life. It's inappropriate for this type of film, though I have to admit that it got a cheap giggle out of me.

Apart of Lohan, I was pleased to see Michael Keaton, Breckin Meyer, and Justin Long making appearances in the picture, though Keaton and Meyer's characters don't see much screen time or fleshing out. Matt Dillon's character gets the most play apart from Lohan, Herbie, and Long, since he is the film's dastardly villain. It's hard to take him seriously, but in the context of the picture, his hamming up of the role adds an appropriate amount of absurd humor to make it almost enjoyable.

The movie starts out with a nice collage of Herbie's past to help set up the character and give newcomers a little bit of his history. Number 53 soon finds himself in the custody of a junkyard owner named Crazy Dave about to become scrap metal. He's saved from certain doom by Maggie Peyton (Lohan), a spunky young girl who at first passes him over. Through a twist of fate it turns out that the Peyton family has a long racing heritage, so it's only fitting that Herbie wind up in her hands. Before long the possessed car starts showing Maggie that he has a mind of his own and the two become friends.

Of course, after being unkempt for such a long time, Herbie is in desperate need of an overhaul, so that's where Kevin (Long) comes in. Herbie gets a Disney-esque version of "Pimp My Ride" and is itching to hit the race track. After winning an impromptu street race against NASCAR champion Trip Murphy (Dillon), events are set in motion as Trip makes it his goal to crush the little Bug. The rest of the picture boils down into a predictable and unbelievable mess, but I have to admit that what it lacks in creativity, it makes up for in entertainment value.

With plenty of cameos by famous NASCAR drivers (someone, please teach them how to act), the racing look is authentic enough. It does leave you shaking your head at the absurdity of a '63 Volkswagen Beetle being allowed to enter a race with supped up stock cars and the like. I guess you could argue that a movie about a sentient car isn't based in reality, but the silly scenarios and overbearing cartoon-like CGI Herbie disappointed me greatly. I was hoping for an experience more akin to his original adventures, but I should have known better.

The DVD:

Herbie: Fully Loaded is presented with a very clean 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The image is very sharp with only a few moments of softness, and even less amounts of grain. I didn't see compression artifacts at any time, though there is quite a bit of edge enhancement that seeps into the picture. Colors are well saturated for the most part, though as a product of the filming location (it seems) there is an abundance of overbearing sunlight and bleached textures. Even so, it's still a very nice and clean image with little to complain about.

With a very subdued audio track, the Dolby Digital 5.1 offers up some nice quality and a decent use of the soundstage. The rear channels don't get as much play as they probably could have, but they are used intelligently enough to provide a more subtle experience, instead of an ear shattering opus. The sound is very clean with no hints of distortion, with a decent pop soundtrack that kicks in whenever necessary. The audio is presented with English, French, and Spanish, plus there are French subtitles and English captions for the hearing impaired.

I have to admit that I was very impressed by the amount of extras that found their way onto Herbie: Fully Loaded. Apart from some Disney sneak peaks there is a cute five minute reel of bloopers for the film. Though most of them are pretty funny, the bulk of them breakdown into Lohan screaming and shrieking about something that happened on stage. There are seven total Deleted Scenes with optional commentary, plus an alternate opening sequence. It's easy to see why these scenes weren't used and thankfully the film kept the current opening title sequence instead of this one, because it felt a little disjointed.

What Disney starlet would be complete without having the notion that she can sing? Lohan has a music video included on the DVD for her song, "First". Confusingly enough, even though the video features Herbie and Lohan, it has very little to do with the movie, though Lohan does some sexy poses with her wavy blonde locks and Number 53.

A few featurettes also appear on the disc. The first is a weak little look at NASCAR racing that is a 13 minute feature more designed for the little ones than DVD enthusiasts. Apart from a few bits, there is little to do with the film, though some of the crew's preparation for the picture is shown behind the scenes. Up next is an interesting look at some of the stunts that Herbie does during the film and what it took to make them come to life. There were several models of the car built for various tasks, and they tried to shy away from a digital Herbie as much as possible, which makes his taunting scene of Trip even more disappointing during the film. After that is a feature about what it took to bring the car to life, and how they tried to stay as faithful to the original as possible.

An audio commentary by Director Angela Robinson is available as well and it offers a mix of quality. Robinson talks about many aspects about production and some of the difficulties encountered during filming. It's interesting enough as far as commentaries go, but nothing ground breaking or incredibly noteworthy. I personally enjoy this type of track with more than one person doing the talking, but as it stands this one is acceptable.

Final Thoughts:

It was my adoration for the Herbie movies of old that compelled me to sit down and watch Fully Loaded. It was also that part of me that was disappointed with the inclusion of a CGI Number 53, subtle adult humor, and painfully simplistic plot. There are many points where the picture feels like a live action cartoon, instead of something that could have resembled a solid experience. There are some decent performances, but none of them really elaborate on the character persona and remain mostly one dimensional.

The DVD does offer some great video and audio quality though, so in that regard I was pleased. I was also happy with the bonus material that was included on the disc as well, since it was much more than I was expecting. At the end of the day though, I'm going to have to give Herbie: Fully Loaded a rental recommendation. It's mildly entertaining, but so generic at times that it hurts.

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