Hmmmmmm. Well, I have avoided this topic quite a bit tbh. Mainly because last time I said anything I got the usual fan-boy response...
Well, I hated the first film the first time I watched it. I hated the fact it was all just so simple as him getting up and leaving at the the end.... Even still, after a few years of resisting Marc convinced me to watch the others. So I re-watched the first and then up to part 4, and I do concede that as an overall series the story and twisting plotline is actually quite reasonable. Clearly these films were very well written as a whole series as apose to a film where they decided to make a sequel. So kudos to them. I enjoyed the films a little. Not something I would rush to see in the cinema but it filled a few hours.
Now how does this relate to the ride? Well it doesn't and that is kinda the point. It would appear to me that people seem to think that if you like the films that you should automatically love the ride and everything about it, or vice versa. Well, I didn't like the concept to begin with for one reason and one reason alone, ie it had NOTHING to do with my dislike for the films!
They are trying their hardest to market this as being one of the "Big boys toys" the adverts placing it alongside Nemesis Inferno/Stealth/Colossus. Great bit of Marketing spin from Thorpe there, but to me that kinda sets you up for a big fall because whether you lot agree or not, a Eurofighter IS NOT in the same league as a BnM invert or even an Intamin Launch. I have ridden three of the things and not one of them really comes anywhere close to Inferno, or Stealth to a degree. So in theory alone (we shall see when the thing opens for sure) it is highly unlikely it will compare or be as great as what they are billing it to be. I will grant that of course, this depends on my own personal experience and tastes in coasters, so you may disagree, but it still isn't going to change my mind, so let's not go down the whole "your wrong road".
An argument could be that the theming in the pre-ride and pre-lift sections is what is going to make this special, which is quite a good argument. Since I am a strong believer in the fact that theming can have a very strong bearing on the overall effect of a ride. Will it push this into the realms of major standard coasterhood? Fraid not! When push comes to shove, it is a mediocre at best theme on a coaster but with a massive amount of marketing clout. The queue line is going to have to be pretty intense in order to stay truly in context with the movies. Do I see this happening... Not on your life! Some of the scenes in 3 and 4 for instance are beyond grotesque in the generic sense. Are Thorpe really going to go all out and make this true to the films and risk alienating a lot of people from riding? I have no clue. Then again, their demographics show that their target audience absolutely loves as much gore as possible, so perhaps they will?
If there was any reason for why things get tamed down it is likely to be budget.... which we have seen time and again at Thorpe. So even if it is almighty upon opening, will it be as amazing in 12 months. I don't think so. True to Thorpes form parts will be broken and never fixed etc etc. We all know the drill.
And as for the building. Since when has a warehouse looked like a blooming patchwork quilt? Having seen the films, and a lot of other films featuring warehouses, they don't really look like that. To me the outside of a warehouse is normally pretty standard bricks and mortar, but thats just me. Either way, the building at the moment just looks very flat, plastic and, well, fake! The whole flat and lifeless look is normally something that gets peoples panties in a twist in RCT let alone in real life, so why is this all of a sudden acceptable? I don't know what sort of place some of you live for warehouses to look like that but I'm just glad its miles away from me! Suffice to say that between now and opening a lot can change and therefore no final judgement can be made just yet.
For me, this is just another cheap tacky movie tie in that will not really do the films any justice and will fall short of expectations, both as a ride and as an experience. If not right away, but soon enough when a) the special effects stop working or b) the movie franchise completely dies up.
I would like to point out that I would love Thorpe to step up to the plate and prove me wrong. I would love for everything I have said to be proven wrong in reality when I ride it (and not just with some counter argument from another enthusiast who is hell bent on living up the arse of Thorpe). Because if I do come off having thoroughly loved it and not feeling somewhat short changed then yay, Thorpe have done their job, and I, as an enthusiast, have got exactly what I was hoping for!