So, of course the exterior and queue have not been changed. They sport some new paint, but everything is as it was before, and it still works.
And then you begin the ride. You notice right away as you look up as Spidey's shadow that the SCOOP's movements are much more direct and focus more time on each scene. This new feature, as are most others, is omnipresent throughout the ride, and perfectly accomplished.
So you encounter a much more noticeable streets of New York feel (with a cat-dog fiasco underway) and proceed afterwards to encountering Spidey, at which point your eyes just look at everything and start taking it all in. And there is definitely a lot to take in, including that stitching on the tip of Spidey's finger, for which I was adamant in spotting.
The following scenes with the Syndicate just make the ride all the better. The previous perspective issues are literally seamless now, and the details just keep your eyes focused and in on the scenery. The slowed down yet still fast paced movements are just so much better and they help riders adjust to the feeling and visual aspects of each segment of the storyline so well.
The ride progresses beautifully, from the perfectly disgusting detail of Scream's face, to the fire at the tip of Dr. Octopus' tentacle-arm thingies (for lack of a better term - I'm not as avid a fan of comic books as I am of Harry Potter...), to the looming towers of New York.
But then the real flourishing moment of the ride occurs: its climax. The buildup, with its PERFECTLY pumped up score and seemingly more dramatic storyline, works up perfectly to the moment in which you're taken over the streets and blasted through the screens and along for the fight. Not to mention the levitation scene, which, if the rising effect worked before, it is nothing compared to how the ride truly feels like it's escalating.
And then, you hit the curved screen. This scene just literally envelops you and sucks you into the condensed juice of the plot. It has you grabbing the SCOOP because everything is just so visceral. I recall the dementor scene for a comparison: the mood is there, the sounds are there, the visuals are in your face, and the movement is just so disorienting and yet focusing that the ride-feel just leaves your mind for a while and you feel truly within the scene. And then the trademark fall, the recuperation, and the resolution. And you're just baffled.
There is just one way to describe both Forbidden Journey and this updated Spider-Man: baffling. Universal Creative does it again, and tenfold.
