Herbie: Fully Loaded

It’s a good bet that the intended audience for Herbie: Fully Loaded isn’t familiar with the Herbies that have ground gears and batted headlight eyelids before in the kitsch Disney franchise: The groovy 1963 Volkswagen Bug with racing in its blood (or in its transmission fluid) and matchmaking in its heart (or in its engine block) was a sentimental invention of a kinder, fuzzier automotive era. And for those newbies, this update, starring peppery Disney re-do queen Lindsay Lohan as wannabe car racer Maggie Peyton, is as serviceable an introduction as any to the notion of a sentient set of wheels. Among the clues that this is not your father’s Volkswagen: Maggie’s a college graduate with career options that include a gig at ESPN; and Herbie has the hots for a snazzy late-model yellow VW Beetle, the sight of which makes his radio antenna extend.