Herbie Goes Bananas

In the ten years since the Disney Organisation made The Love Bug and an off-white VW Beetle called Herbie shot to stardom, he's grown with the part and become more assertive, while his supporting actors become more and more like car components. This is Herbiefilm IV (last in the series), in which 26 versions of the star car got trashed; with that kind of turnover in stand-ins, it's not surprising that they haven't got around to changing the plot formula, only the scenery. This year's model chases around some of the less political clichés of Central America in pursuit of villains and pre-Colombian artefacts. If you can stomach the lovey bits, the film has a lot of good car stunts, some innuendo for the adults, and the ultimate accolade for the Chaplinesque Herbie - a chance to play opposite a cute Mexican orphan.