You know something’s wrong when watching the audience seems more compelling than the movie you’re viewing.
That was my deflating experience when I saw “Captain America: Civil War’’ on opening day last Friday in the brand-new auditorium equipped to dispense so-called 4DX effects at New York’s Regal E-Walk on 42nd Street.
A trailer for the process that preceded the movie (along with the usual advertisements for a dozen other blockbusters) promised to put us “in’’ the action. Instead, I experienced exactly the opposite: It was constantly taking me out of the movie. Which, given the utter mediocrity of this particular movie, was a sort of mixed blessing.
4DX debuted four years ago in South Korea, but it’s been slow to catch on in this country — this is only the third auditorium equipped for it stateside, including one in Los Angeles and another that opened at the Union Square megaplex back in March.
Added to 3-D, 4DX is supposed to “enhance’’ the moviegoing experience by dispensing smells, water, “fog’’ and compressed air at preprogrammed moments during the movie, along with “lightning’’ and seats that vibrate, poke you in the back — and rise into the air on hydraulic platforms like an amusement park ride.
Even on opening day for the hottest movie in the country, the auditorium was maybe three-quarters full for my matinee. That included a last-minute surge of people, at least some of whom seemed to have sneaked in from lower-priced auditoriums and grabbed any of the reserved seats that were not taken.
Perhaps, thankfully, I could not detect any smells during “Civil War’’ — not when anything was burning on-screen (which, being a superhero movie, was often) or even when Paul Bettany’s Vision does some baking in the Avengers’ kitchen. I am not sure whether a malfunctioning system, a programming error or my seasonal allergies were to blame. Not that I wanted to be reminded of the smells of the old 42nd Street grindhouses.
Whenever someone was firing bullets at the Avengers, compressed air was fired at my head — but, like most of the effects, the synchronization with the action was so approximate that it often felt like an afterthought. Ditto for the flashing lights on the side of the auditorium that were supposed to represent lightning, or the timid sprays of water whenever the action got near bodies of liquid. There were also some half-hearted puffs of smoke up front that were supposed to be fog.
These effects were nowhere near as distracting as the moving seats. All the groups of four chairs (which are roomy but not as comfortable as the recliners now being installed in some theaters) are on platforms that rise and fall in unison during the action sequences.
As with the hokey New York City travelogue ride at the Empire State Building, this movement is fun the first or second time but gets old fast — which can be a problem when your movie runs 2½ hours. (It also had the odd effect of making the effects-free dialogue sequences seem even flatter than they already were.)
Whenever punches are thrown — Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America start a rumble joined by an army of superheroes — your chair pokes you in the back, like an airport massage lounger gone berserk. Brian Raftery of Wired, who saw “Batman v. Superman’’ at the Union Square theater, alarmingly warned that “once the movie’s through, your upper butt will feel as though it’s been massaged by a coked-up gibbon.’’
I don’t know whether I’m made of sterner stuff than Raftery or they toned down the pummeling following that March review. But I’m happy to report no aftereffects — your intrepid critic (who survived watching “Earthquake’’ in 4DX ancestor Sensurround 42 years ago) won’t be needing physical therapy after seeing “Captain America: Civil War.’’
It’s not hard to see where this, and the accompanying shaking effects, might present problems for someone prone to motion sickness. (They might want to consider offering barf bags with your popcorn.) Personally, I was less bothered by the physical effects than the fact that the seats’ movement often made it difficult to focus my eyes on the screen, aggravating the potential eyestrain inherent in watching a 3-D movie.
On the plus side, the projection of “Civil War’’ was by far the brightest I’ve ever seen for a 3-D movie at the E-Walk, where past experiences were sometimes like watching a movie through a dirty fish tank.
Is it worth the hefty ticket price of $28.50 — compared with $20.50 for a regular 3-D movie, or $21 for a 3-D movie in the E-Walk’s largest auditorium, which is equipped with “RPX,’’ Regal’s version of IMAX?
Based on my experience, I’d say probably not — it seems like yet another pointless gimmick (like most 3-D) to gouge audiences with higher ticket prices.
But I have to admit there’s something almost hypnotic about watching other people in seats that are pitching to and fro during the movie — it was certainly more compelling than anything happening on the screen. But worth an extra 8 bucks? I don’t think so.