The Parkz Update: Movie World, March 2014

In the March edition of the Parkz Update we head along to Warner Bros. Movie World to check out the new Hollywood Stunt Driver 2.

Image: Parkz. Hollywood Stunt Driver 2 in all its V8 plotless glory.

Update By Richard Wilson
3 March 2014

Gotham City Cafe is closed for maintenance.

Flanked by two dogtag machines is this piece of retail brilliance... custom gangsta caps.

Rather than customising each cap to the buyer, why not just sell one design of cap that says 'Tacky'?

Every designer's favourite font – the ubiquitous Lobster – is working hard selling Gift Cards.

Unfortunately the Western Town Show is Down! But you can live here... at 12:15pm... apparently?

The parks are heavily promoting day cruises now that the whale-watching season is over.

Revenge doesn't get old – but posters do. I'm guessing "bullet to the head" was a quote from a review?

Hollywood Stunt Driver 2

Over at Hollywood Stunt Driver, the set has been seamlessly converted from Italy to USA for the show's sequel.

Just ignore the Italian jewellery store next to the gym. The rest of the set is perfect Americana.

Don't mind the Italian merchant – I'm sure the rest of the set is right.

To be fair, La Marcelleria is practically blocked by this inexplicably placed ramp, so you can see why they wouldn't go to the trouble of painting the word 'Butcher' onto the sign to adapt it to the show.

There we are! It doesn't get more US of A than Chuck's Diner.

Yeah, just ignore the Italian exit sign...

I'm guessing that the ~~Italian~~ American bookshop doesn't have any books on set design or stunt mat placement?

While the original Hollywood Stunt Driver set just about passed as an Italian-themed set, they simply gave up when it came to Hollywood Stunt Driver 2.

A theme park show shouldn't have to stand up to in-depth intellectual scrutiny, but putting together a cohesive set for a show shouldn't be an afterthought. There's just nothing about Hollywood Stunt Driver 2's set that makes any sense!

There's two basic elements to Hollywood Stunt Driver 2. The first is a very loose plot about putting together a trailer for a new film of some description. This includes the return of a Rodney-esque character from the audience.

The second part is a whole lot of meaningless-but-cool-to-watch vehicle stunts.

The Morgan Ross film director role seems to have been reduced to a single Segway prop gag that's only about a decade off being current.

So let's assume that the film is set in some nondescript Little Italy somewhere in the USA which is why there's this odd mix of American and Italian. Just ignore the distinctly European architecture and ancient ruins... and the Australian V8 utes.

Cool tricks though... who needs a plot anyway?

Some really cool black cars are featured in the show. Not sure what their role in the film is, but if we had to give them a proper part in a story, then we'd have to write parts for all the drivers. And that's just way too much script-writing!

It's not like it's the flagship show of one of the country's largest tourist attractions or anything...

Did we mention that the loud cars do cool tricks? Vroom!

You can't deny that the drivers and riders are all incredibly talented.

And some of it is very impressive.

It's just the complete lack of a cohesive plot that makes Hollywood Stunt Driver 2 a very weak show. And at a park named Warner Bros. Movie World with a history of great stunt shows, it's disappointing to see the standards slip.

But at least it has some nifty tricks, right?

Lose about half the bike tricks, add about 10 minutes of humour-based plot to justify the stunts and Hollywood Stunt Driver 2 could become more than just a incoherent mess of jumps and doughies.