Herbie: Fully Loaded is just what I expected from this next installment of the famous Love Bug series. I am not sure how many there were (and I am too lazy to look), but I have seen them all. The same things I liked about the originals, I liked about this one. Same with the dislikes. I am able to suspend my disbelief only so far. However, I do realize this movie is mainly for KIDS and I am able to let go of it's obvious flaws. I did like how Herbie was animated just a bit to show his personality just a little more.
Ray Peyton Sr. (Michael Keaton) was a legendary racer and wants nothing more than his son Ray Peyton Jr. (Breckin Meyer) to be the "Next Great Peyton". The only problem is that Jr. has a unique problem which causes him to crash for apparently no reason, even when no one else is around. The other thing is, Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan) is the more gifted of Sr.'s children.
After Maggie ends up with Herbie, although she does not really want him at first, he takes it upon himself to take on the current racing legend, Trip Murphy (Matt Dillon), in a street race and beats him. This strikes a nerve with Trip who wants to ruin Herbie and his mysterious driver "Max". Bet you can't figure out who Max is. Anyways, the racing scenes are very similar to the racing scenes of the past movies. I am not sure, but I believe the opening scenes were clips from past movies.
Matt Dillon is excellent as the antagonist, as he usually is. He plays the egotistical Trip in quite the humorous way. Also, Lindsay Lohan was beautiful and perfect for the role. To be honest, I may not have seen Herbie if she was not starring in it. Also, Michael Keaton has visibly aged here and not in a very good way. Justin Long also puts in a fine performance as Kevin. Also, I did not even realize I was watching a "G" Rated movie. I am not sure when the last time I saw one of those was but it was refreshing to be able to look back at the movie I just saw and not be able to come up with anything questionable about it.
If you have seen any of the Herbie movies then you know whether or not you will like this one. Please don't be shocked if you have seen them and still choose to go see this movie. If you did not like it, then it is entirely your fault. Maybe movies are too complicated for someone like that to enjoy. 7/10
