Universal celebrates great movie moments

COMMENTARY

Take a deep breath. Now, exhale. The incoming end-of-night show at Universal Studios theme park is a slower-paced production designed to let visitors absorb great movie moments and, not coincidentally, recap a day at the park. “Universal Orlando’s Cinematic Celebration” features prancing fountains, layer upon layer of projections, fireworks and enormous panda heads.

The show currently is in “technical rehearsal,” so what I witnessed Monday evening may or may not have been the whole experience. To my eye, there were no obvious blips or omissions. (An official debut date has not been announced, with Universal sticking to the “Summer 2018” range.)

Previous nighttime productions at the park were more of the quick, greatest-hits editing. They were jam-packed and had something for everyone — no matter how briefly. But that wasn’t exactly a soothing kiss goodnight.

My first recognition of the slower pace came during the “Jurassic World” segment. The action came to a close and it felt like transition to another film or genre was imminent, but instead there was even more dinosaur action ... as if a sequel. It was also during the “Jurassic” scenes, which fall early into the 20-minute “Cinematic Celebration,” that the use of background projections, shown on the buildings along the theme park’s New York and San Francisco streets, began to shine. Nothing major happens back there, but the visuals are strong, textured support for what’s going on upfront on the water spray.

Before all that, the show starts with an overture, an opportunity to show off its 120+ water jets. They go off at varying heights and are illuminated in changing hues. One of my favorite maneuvers is when the fountains go through a waving motion, reminiscent of windshield wipers. It’s graphically appealing.

All the elements work together to present a range of moods, from the “I’ll be right here” moment from “E.T.” to the no-funnybusiness attitude of “Transformers.” Monday’s audience responded loudest to climactic scenes of “Transformers“and the adjacent lead-in to the “Harry Potter” segments.

It took a while for some imagery to fall into focus for me. Again, this was technical rehearsal, but also this is light being projected at a distance onto moving droplets of water in the dark. (Those are challenges for still photography of the event as well.)

I thought the animation (Minions, trolls, “Secret Life of Pets” set) translated well, although seeing an enormous Kung Fu Panda head was disconcerting. Likewise for a way-biggerthan-life Vin Diesel in “Fast & Furious” mode and Daniel Radcliffe as boyish wizard.

On my next viewing, I think I’ll stand farther back rather than along the lagoon’s edge. Universal has constructed a formidable viewing area — capacity of about 6,500 people — in the Central Park area for the show. I was pleased that the finished product didn’t destroy the park look. It’s multi-tiered, stone and wrought iron-lined. This area stretches from basically Café La Bamba and to the locomotive from “Back to the Future 3.”

That centers folks along the banks and the water “stage” of sorts, which runs from the Battery Park area to Richters restaurant. There are multiple water screens in use, they don’t necessarily sport the same imager. Standing farther back might give a better overall picture and distance from megapanda.

Before the lights go down, Universal presents quite a panoramic view from the new standingroom-only area. From left, you see Transformers, the upper stretches of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster, streets scenes, the occasional passing of the Hogwarts Express (which may look like its exiting from Fast & Furious: Supercharged, which just cannot be canon, right?), the tops of the London façade of Diagon Alley and over to Men In Black.

Again, there’s no opening date for “Cinematic Celebration,” but also be aware that the show is on select nights, depending on factors like operating hours. (Show times on the Universal app are your friend.) Oh, and it doesn’t feel like something we’d see during Halloween Horror Nights, although an HHN version sounds exciting to me. Maybe throw in a little “Bill & Ted” while they’re at it? Just where is the Universal Orlando suggestion box?