Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) Movie Review

I was tucked in and cozy eating chocolate while others were trying to keep up with their driveways as a massive snowstorm hammered the majority of the country. Now, the area that I was in, lower Connecticut saw some of its biggest snowfall totals since the early 2010s. 

Since I was stuck in the house I figured to give myself a half-day off and watch a movie. Obviously being the car enthusiast that I am, along with having an inner-kid inside my soul, I watched Disney’s Herbie: Fully Loaded.

I grew up a Herbie fan and have watched every movie times 50 (probably) throughout my 21-years on this earth, but no Herbie movie quite gives me nostalgia like Fully Loaded. Frankly, I do not understand why the movie got so much hate.

Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) has a running time of 1 hour, 41 minutes and is rated G, and stars Lindsay Lohan as Maggie Peyton, who purchased Herbie from a junkyard moments before he would be crushed. Lohan’s character used to be a street racer and always dreamed of racing in the formerly-known NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, but her dad Ray Peyton Sr., (played by Michael Keaton) won’t allow it, keeping her in a protective shell. As the movie goes on Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan) learns about herself on a racing angle that is in a way controlled by Herbie, a Volkswagen Beetle, who has its own personality and racing characteristics. 

The Peyton family in the movie is depicted to be one of the greatest bloodlines of racing in NASCAR history, with the Team Peyton racing motto being “Built for racing” as the movie mentioned her grandfather was the first racer of the family. I feel more so the family is supposed to loosely represent the Petty racing family, which had four generations race in the sport.

Maggie’s brother, Ray Peyton Jr (played by Breckin Meyer), is the team’s one and only driver, but deals with constant struggles and a lack of car control which has led to numerous crashes and sponsorship pulls. Ray Jr., isn’t seen as a villain whatsoever, in fact he supported Maggie the entire movie to swap seats with her, viewing her as the more talented sibling.

The movie’s villain is Trip Murphy (played by Matt Dillon.) Murphy became obsessed with Herbie after losing to the car in a street race. Frankly when it comes to a realistic view, Trip isn’t even that bad – in fact he makes perfect sense. Trip Murphy seems to be the only one who realizes that Herbie is alive and Maggie isn’t truly driving the car. Yes, the writers made Dillon’s character to appear greedy and arrogant (which he was) but in no way was he a bad guy for wanting to destroy herbie. Personally if I thought a car was possessed I would likely want it destroyed as well.

What I loved most about the movie was the beginning, more specifically the opening credits scene. A reverbed cover of Getcha Back by The Beach Boys played as Herbie’s top moments from previous movies were played, paying homage to previous actors and previous installments of the Herbie movie franchise.

The movie also pays homage towards the end of the movie during a demolition derby scene, which shows a vintage yellow car. The beat up classic taking part in the demo derby can only be seen for split seconds on several occasions, but its part in the movie pays homage specifically to the first-ever Herbie movie, The Love Bug (1968). 

The yellow classic, which is numbered 113, represents the Thorndyke Special. The Thorndyke Special was the iconic yellow 1965 Apollo GT with black accents driven by Peter Thorndyke (acted by the late David Tomlinson). The car showcased in Fully Loaded is not a 1965 Apollo GT, instead it is a Datsun Z (the model was produced from 1969-78, not even making it align with the year of the Apollo GT.)

The distinctive differences between the Apollo and Datsun is that the Datsun Z’s headlights are more inset and the bumper is across the whole front nose, along with there being no hood scoop and the rear window being an entirely different shape. 

Although the cars are entirely different it was a nice easter egg for experienced fans of the franchise. Overall, only 88 Apollo GT’s were produced. The specific model in The Love Bug was a 3500 GT and the specific model in the movie was built by Max Balchowsky. Nonetheless it was a really nice way to pay homage to the previous movie, even if the car wasn’t exactly accurate.

The movie ending sequence begins with Maggie finally getting the opportunity to race after her brother faked a concussion-like inquiry after a practice crash to allow for a driver change. Maggie ditched the idea of driving the team’s Monte Carlo and wanted Herbie. Overall, the entire move was risky as the team’s main sponsor Bass Pro Shops wanted to fully pull sponsorship, leading the team to be on financial life support and the verge of shutting down if the next race did not satisfy. 

Now I can go on and on as to how a soft top Beetle would never be allowed to race in NASCAR, but keeping it in mind that it's a movie centered on children under 12 I'll let it slide.

Maggie would win after literally riding the catch fence, becoming the first-ever female race winner in modern day NASCAR. The win finally had her father realize that she’s the real deal and she finally gets his blessing and support. The win also saw the defeat of Murphy, who flipped over after trying to intentionally ram Herbie into the wall. Trip was seen getting medical attention afterwards, but the movie does not show what happened to him. It is likely though Murphy would have gotten a multi-race suspension by NASCAR. 

As the movie ends, it leaves you to imagine her and Herbie’s future, which likely would include a full-time schedule, more race wins and eventually a championship.

I was disappointed that Rotten Tomatoes has Herbie: Fully Loaded with a 40% rating. Many deem it as a forgettable Disney reboot. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and knowing it is meant for kids does change how the rating should be viewed. 

Looking at it from a kid’s perspective as I watched the movie in my youth years, I’d give it a solid 8.5/10. From an adult (and NASCAR fan) perspective, I understand just how boring and so unrealistic some parts are, nonetheless I found it to be a solid watch on a snowy day in the middle of January and will give it a 7/10.

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