[Brikar99]

As a standalone movie, I'd say it was pretty weak. As a pilot, it fares a little better. But not much. It's major detractors are several:

1. Bad acting. Both of the leads are terrible, and Val Kilmer isn't having any fun as KITT.
2. There's some really, really bad special effects here. Shots of the car moving at high speeds are obviously poorly-composited CG effects.
3. Direction. Most of the car chases are shot more like a car commercial. For every few seconds of genuinely cool chase cinematography, there's another few seconds where I expect a voice to start telling me about getting a 2 year lease for only 289 a month with 2000 due at signing. I don't usually have a problem with product placement, and I have no issues with Ford... but there's a difference between shooting a commercial and shooting a chase. There are plenty other places in the movie to get good shots of the Ford Mustang without having to pull me out of what should be a cool action sequence.
4. Not enough HOFF.

All that said, the potential is there for a decent, light-hearted action/adventure series if they could just get some decent actors and directors. I've seen plenty of awesome network TV car chases ("Alias", for example, had a couple that were damn cool) to know that such things are not outside the realm of possibility on a weekly drama.