AMC Barrywoods 24 is the very first theater in the area and the second theater in the country to implement AMC’s all-new 4DX experience.
4DX is an innovative cinema technology that creates “movie magic” by transporting viewers directly into the film, combining motion-based seating with more “over 21 environmental effects—like wind, water, snow, vibration, and scent—” all synchronized with the action on-screen.
AMC describes that each one of their 4DX films is programmed uniquely to “amplify thrill, motion, and intensity” and that it’s “bold physical storytelling” that you can only experience at their 4DX theaters.
When I first heard about the opening of the 4DX theaters, I was immediately intrigued. I had been to a lot of similar theaters before, but, to me, they had always been nothing more than an overly expensive gimmick that couldn’t even muster to pull anyone into the movie than sprinkling tiny water droplets over your head. However, I wanted to see if AMC’s new 4DX experience could really manage to pull me into the movie just like they had so confidently claimed. So, as soon as I could, with only a few measly dollars in my bank account, I eagerly booked a 4DX screening for “Project Hail Mary”.
When I finally got inside the theater, which, on the outside, was engraved with the giant 4DX symbol, I couldn’t lie to you and say that I wasn’t a bit disappointed at the actual presentation of the theater. I had pictured it as big and grandiose, meant to fit the appearance of a contraption that was truly meant to create an experience that was larger than life, or rather, steeped within it. But it was simply a regular theater, with the rows being slightly more spread out, and the seats being bigger and blockier. Still, despite my growing disappointment, I stifled my opinion, awaiting to see if the experience itself would replace my dissatisfaction, and wallet, with a little bit of excitement. I was left, after the screening, however, with only feelings of indifference.
I was immediately swept into the 4DX experience in the very first few seconds of the movie, as when the titular character of the movie, Ryland Grace, played brilliantly by the charismatic Ryan Gosling, all of us in the theater were met in the face with a splash of Gosling spit. That wonderful immersion re-engaged me right back into the experience, and the next few minutes only enhanced it. Looking back on all of my previous experiences in 4DX, what I think that AMC really captured, in not just the first minutes, but for most of the movie, was allowing the audience to really immerse themselves in the movie, by making us feel what each of the characters on-screen had felt.
When Grace was endlessly floating in zero-gravity in the depth of his spaceship, the audience felt like they had been floating themselves whenever the seats had swayed back and forth in a constant motion. As Grace ventured in the different environments of Earth, and beyond, the audience felt nearly every single bit of the cold, and even some of the heat, which was only
exacerbated by the high-output HVAC system, the mist machine, and the compressed air jets hidden away in the background. And I can especially, during a particular sequence in the movie, was where the magic of AMC’s 4DX experience really shined. Although I thought the scene was already excellent in creating an intense and riveting experience for the average moviegoer, the 4DX theaters transformed it into a roller-coaster ride that was electric. However, despite the enjoyment that the roller-coaster-like feeling gave me throughout the movie, it ultimately revealed the gimmicky and empty nature of the 4DX theater experience.
I couldn’t help but be taken out of the film at a lot of points. Although I loved the fact that the 4DX experience never stopped after it taken its first swing, it did feel like that many of the more emotional scenes in the movie, especially between Grace and his rock-spider pal, the earnest Rocky, lost a lot of their impact by the seats’ never-ending motion and refusal to let a scene simply be a scene.
I enjoyed my time at AMC’s 4DX theater. It was a fun and enjoyable experience than what I usually get from watching a movie. But, at the same time, I still found that the experience was hollow underneath, as a lot of the actual heart and soul of the movie was really lost in waves of superficial and gimmicky effects.
The goal of 4DX theaters is immersion. After all, the main aim of the technology is to make you forget that you are in an actual theater. However, despite the the ability that it has to really strengthen many scenes, 4DX, as my experience has highlighted, often fails to be more than just a expensive gimmick that can retroactively take more away from a movie than what it can actually give.
