The new Studio Tram Tour finale, Fast and Furious Supercharged officially opened yesterday with a gala celebration including the ride designers, park and city dignitaries, and of course, the stars from the hit franchise that has grossed nearly 3.5 Billion worldwide. Press and VIPs gathered in Universal Studios Hollywood’s Courthouse Square awaiting the arrival of the stars.
Some of the picture cars were on display.
The celebrities began to arrive as well as many staff and executives from Universal and Universal Creative.
We were then invited to hop aboard a tram and be taken directly to the attraction. You can read our previously posted review here for our initial reaction here, but what we saw yesterday has us changing our opinion just slightly. Picking up where the Fast and Furious elements begin, we were whisked off to Wisteria Lane where Dominic Toretto’s Charger appears. The Studio Tour guide calls it in to security and the FBI then interrupts the transmission stating that Toretto is a dangerous criminal. Of course we know he’s just misunderstood.
The bad guy, a man named Shaw is after a key witness on the tram. The good Fast and Furious guys are trying to protect them. However the stodgy FBI is mucking things up again by trying to capture Toretto, Hobbs, Letty and the rest of the gang. We are invited to pull into the garage for a nice party.
The next scene is where the party begins. Using digital projection and pepper’s ghost effects, we see a party get broken up by Agent Novak.
Good Ol’ Dominic and Letty pop up from a truck lift and tell the FBI to scram. There is a lot more going on here as the dangerous Owen Shaw is after someone on the tram. We are advised to pull into the parking garage next door and wait for further direction.
Owen Shaw finds us and the Fast and Furious team helps us escape. The tram is surrounded by an immersive 4k digital projection, 3D sound and physical smoke and water effects. This time through the Fast and Furious Supercharged attraction, everything seemed to gel better than our initial ride during previews. While not different as far as content, the overall experience had more polish to it. It felt like a more cohesive experience. the attraction had been given a tune up, if you will.
There is still a gigantic amount of cheese here. The swagger and machismo are almost a little too much. Not to mention the cartoonish party goers in the second scene. It’s always hard to do hip and edgy at a them park. In just a few years those scenes will look antiquated and will more than likely have to be updated.
It’s no spoiler that things come out okay. Thankfully the attraction that ends the world famous Studio Tour has been tightened up and feels a lot more unified. It’s fascinating what a little tweaking will do to the big picture. This will be a crowd pleaser and really is a fun way to wrap up the tour.