The Love Bug

Dir: Peyton Reed

1997

*

I was always quite fond of the Herbie films as a child but frankly, the only reason I sought out 1997's The Love Bug (and I mean sought out because it was incredibly hard to find in the UK when it came out) was because the mighty Bruce Campbell was in it and I make a point of watching all of Bruce Campbell's films, no matter how bad they are. He has been in some real stinkers but he always seems to make them slightly better and The Love Bug is no exception, although it is still a one star film. Peyton Reed's Herbie film is not quite a remake and not quite a sequel, and while it doesn't totally dismiss the events of previous films, it totally ignores any kind of continuity. You get a feeling that Disney don't really care, it's a made-for-TV film, who gives a monkey? At this point I'm not sure anyone did. In the film we learn that Herbie is alive due to how he was made. He was actually crafted by a Dr. Gustav Stumpfel shortly after the Second World War who used magical ingredients and spiritual know-how to bring the little Beetle to life. It all sounds a bit like Nazi experimentation to me, especially when Simon Moore III (played by John Hannah), a racing driver who bought Herbie and rejected him after they didn't get along, tracks down the Doctor and asks him to create a 'Hate Bug' to take on Herbie in road race. The 'Hate Bug' then goes on to kill Herbie, who actually has a funeral half way through the film. It's safe to say that this is the darkest of all the Herbie films. However, when Herbie's original owner Jim turns up (once again played by Dean Jones) he explains that there is in fact a way of rebuilding Herbie to his former glory. I'm not sure anyone doubted Herbie wouldn't survive a Herbie film, at this point the question of why Jim got rid of him in the first place comes to mind, especially if he 'means so much to me' like he states in the film. A Herbie is for life Jim, not just for Christmas damn it! Apart from the Nazi experimentation, voodoo and death of a much loved Disney character, The Love Bug is made up of all the spare parts of the four previous films. Bruce Campbell is visibly uninterested in the film he's in but he still rocks. John Hannah does himself no favours but I like him and even though it raised many unanswered questions I like that Dean Jones came back for a cameo. Everything else was awful.