4Dx has arrived in Belgium, so of course I had to go and try it. Kinepolis promises the most revolutionary cinema experience ever. Very brave to set such high expectations, especially faced with experienced movie buffs like my friends. Was Kinepolis able to live up to our expectations?
We had found what we thought would be the perfect film to experience 4 dimensions for the first time: Alita Battle Angel. We were expecting lots of battle sequences, velocity, fast-paced action and lots of opportunities for movement and drama.
The experience started as soon as we entered the Kinepolis building. We had received an extra ticket with a barcode. My friend was tasked with taking that ticket to the shop and securing the necessary 3D glasses. It almost didn’t work as he was given only one pair of glasses instead of six, and specifically had to ask for the rest of them. Not the smoothest start of our evening, but we got everything we needed in the end. And the glasses were actually a lot more comfortable than the usual ones you get to watch a film in 3D. You also get to keep these glasses, so we won’t have to pay for them again if we ever decide to repeat the experience. Which is definitely not cheap!
Making our way to the shop, we were confronted with massive signs telling us about all the things that were forbidden in the 4Dx theatre: no nachos, no open drinks, no hot beverages, no viewers shorter than 1 meter, no unaccompanied children, no personal items in the passageways, etc. And even more surprising in my area, was that the film would be shown without a break, which is usually standard practice here. Even though this rule made our drinks more expensive, forcing us to go for plastic bottles, I didn’t mind the changes and didn’t miss the break, but I’m sure it will take some getting used to for others.
The actual movie theatre is not very different from the others. The chairs have higher backs and foot rests. They feel slightly harder to sit on, but that might just be because they are still relatively new compared to the other, older theatres in this Kinepolis complex. The seats are grouped by 4, but that doesn’t really mean much, except that the chairs move in groups of 4 and that there’s a gap between every group. As there were six of us, we had decided to sit in groups of 3.
Luckily, before Alita started, we were given the opportunity to get used to the movement of the chairs and some of the ‘special effects’ that come with the 4D Experience: gusts of wind, sprays of water, back prods and flashes of light. The trailers of upcoming new releases in 3D were a nice prelude for what we were to expect in the feature film. I’ve seen the trailer for ‘Dumbo’ in static mode before other films, and I must say that the movement of the chairs did not really add very much.
I enjoyed Alita. It was a clever, well-made film that moved at high speed and lived up to my expectations of an action-packed but sensitive cinematic manga rollercoaster. Rosita Salazar portrays a strong but vulnerable Alita who discovers what it means to be human and super-human, her big eyes looking out into the world with positivity, apprehension and hope at the same time. Ever Christopher Waltz, who never really managed to convince me again after his strong performance in Inglourious Bastards, was bearable as Dr. Ido.
Would I have enjoyed the film better without the theme park shenanigans that is 4Dx? Probably.
In my humble opinion, 4D is indeed the future of the cinematic experience, but we are a long way away from what it could become. Until the films are actually adapted to this new way of viewing, making the audience an actual character in the film, the additional water, wind and movement will remain random at best. Making me move as if I was on a train the one minute, feeling the gust of wind of a sword that’s flying by my ears or mimicking the falling movement as if I was right there next to the character and sharing their experience could be fun, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately for now, all it does is rip me out of the story, making me aware of my surroundings and reminding me that what I’m experiencing is not real. And that’s the exact opposite of what I would expect from cinema.
But then just when I thought that this would be my first and final 4D experience, the appearance of Ed Norton made me want to come back for an Alita sequel, so you never know. But perhaps I’ll see that one without the additional fuss of 4Dx. Give it a few more years to grow and mature. And then, who knows...?
Info:
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Director: Robert Rodriquez
Screenplay: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis, Yukito Kishiro
Cast: Rosita Salazar, Christopher Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Keean Johnson, Mahershala Ali, etc.
We had found what we thought would be the perfect film to experience 4 dimensions for the first time: Alita Battle Angel. We were expecting lots of battle sequences, velocity, fast-paced action and lots of opportunities for movement and drama.
The experience started as soon as we entered the Kinepolis building. We had received an extra ticket with a barcode. My friend was tasked with taking that ticket to the shop and securing the necessary 3D glasses. It almost didn’t work as he was given only one pair of glasses instead of six, and specifically had to ask for the rest of them. Not the smoothest start of our evening, but we got everything we needed in the end. And the glasses were actually a lot more comfortable than the usual ones you get to watch a film in 3D. You also get to keep these glasses, so we won’t have to pay for them again if we ever decide to repeat the experience. Which is definitely not cheap!
Making our way to the shop, we were confronted with massive signs telling us about all the things that were forbidden in the 4Dx theatre: no nachos, no open drinks, no hot beverages, no viewers shorter than 1 meter, no unaccompanied children, no personal items in the passageways, etc. And even more surprising in my area, was that the film would be shown without a break, which is usually standard practice here. Even though this rule made our drinks more expensive, forcing us to go for plastic bottles, I didn’t mind the changes and didn’t miss the break, but I’m sure it will take some getting used to for others.
The actual movie theatre is not very different from the others. The chairs have higher backs and foot rests. They feel slightly harder to sit on, but that might just be because they are still relatively new compared to the other, older theatres in this Kinepolis complex. The seats are grouped by 4, but that doesn’t really mean much, except that the chairs move in groups of 4 and that there’s a gap between every group. As there were six of us, we had decided to sit in groups of 3.
Luckily, before Alita started, we were given the opportunity to get used to the movement of the chairs and some of the ‘special effects’ that come with the 4D Experience: gusts of wind, sprays of water, back prods and flashes of light. The trailers of upcoming new releases in 3D were a nice prelude for what we were to expect in the feature film. I’ve seen the trailer for ‘Dumbo’ in static mode before other films, and I must say that the movement of the chairs did not really add very much.
I enjoyed Alita. It was a clever, well-made film that moved at high speed and lived up to my expectations of an action-packed but sensitive cinematic manga rollercoaster. Rosita Salazar portrays a strong but vulnerable Alita who discovers what it means to be human and super-human, her big eyes looking out into the world with positivity, apprehension and hope at the same time. Ever Christopher Waltz, who never really managed to convince me again after his strong performance in Inglourious Bastards, was bearable as Dr. Ido.
Would I have enjoyed the film better without the theme park shenanigans that is 4Dx? Probably.
In my humble opinion, 4D is indeed the future of the cinematic experience, but we are a long way away from what it could become. Until the films are actually adapted to this new way of viewing, making the audience an actual character in the film, the additional water, wind and movement will remain random at best. Making me move as if I was on a train the one minute, feeling the gust of wind of a sword that’s flying by my ears or mimicking the falling movement as if I was right there next to the character and sharing their experience could be fun, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately for now, all it does is rip me out of the story, making me aware of my surroundings and reminding me that what I’m experiencing is not real. And that’s the exact opposite of what I would expect from cinema.
But then just when I thought that this would be my first and final 4D experience, the appearance of Ed Norton made me want to come back for an Alita sequel, so you never know. But perhaps I’ll see that one without the additional fuss of 4Dx. Give it a few more years to grow and mature. And then, who knows...?
Info:
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Director: Robert Rodriquez
Screenplay: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis, Yukito Kishiro
Cast: Rosita Salazar, Christopher Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Keean Johnson, Mahershala Ali, etc.
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