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Mar 15, 2019 By Joshua Mellin

Starring Brie Larson, Marvel Studios’ 21st chapter in their cinematic universe, Captain Marvel had a lot to unpack to introduce the Starforce super soldier before joining The Avengers to take on Thanos in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame.

As the first female-fronted entry in the MCU, Captain Marvel proved a hero’s journey worthy of Thor’s Mjölnir. The new Cap’s quips instantly introduced us to a leader we could root for as much as Tony Stark’s Iron Man.

Also, as the first entry taking place primarily in the past of the MCU we’ve been introduced to previously, the 90s period piece exceeded expectations in maintaining the tightly stitched continuity established before. Featuring a digitally de-aged Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Clark Gregg as a younger rookie Agent Coulson, we got to witness the inspiration for the Avenger’s Initiative first hand.

While introducing the shape-shifting Skrulls and their intergalactic conflict with the Kree, including the elite Starforce and zealot Accusers (including Lee Pace as Ronan reprising his villainous Guardians role), may have been tedious for even the most learned Marvel fans to follow at first, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel eventually cut through the narrative literally, and figuratively with a jolt of energy.

The film was packed with some great Marvel moments fans have come accustomed to: Stan Lee’s cameo was perhaps even more meta than his turn as a Watcher in Guardians 2 and the opening sprawl paid tribute to the late mastermind; Muscial homages from Larson’s NIN shirt, to Smashing Pumpkins Melancholy & The Infinite Sadness posters plastered around LA paired well with set pieces built around No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” and Nirvana’s “Come As You Are;” and as with any Marvel movie, multiple post-credits scened showed us just where to expect to see Carol Danvers next.

Captain Marvel finally touched down in Japan this weekend and we decided to check it out in 4DX at Tokyo’s TOHO cinemas in Shinjuku. Home to an imposing life-sized Godzilla figure on its roof deck, a giant poster of Captain Marvel has stared down the theater’s neon-lit main-street for the better part of the month.

4DX was developed by South Korean company CJ 4DPLEX, a part of the CJ group. In addition to 3D projections on screen, 4DX offers immersive in-theater effects such as seat motion, smoke, flashing lights, even rain.

First introduced with 2009’s Journey to the Center of the Earth at theaters in Seoul in 2009, it has since became popular in China, as well as Mexico City, which became home to the first 4DX equipped theater in North America in 2012 with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

The technology premiered in America in 2014 at L.A.’s Regal Cinemas Live Stadium 14, screening Transformers: Age of Extinction. Now 4DX screens operate on over 500 screens throughout Europe, South America, Russia and even South Africa.

Still, adoption in the US has been sparse, with only a handful of Regal locations offering the experience.

Firstly, as someone who can struggle to keep up with the action in 3D screening, the slightly cropped 4DX felt like much less off an eye strain than standard 3D screenings. There was no challenge to take in the details unfolding onscreen.

The immersive 4DX effects came on quickly, assumedly to acclimate the audience to the types of real-world FX we would experience. When Carol Danvers took to the skies in her U.S. Air Force fighter jets, so too did our seats tilt back and join her for the ride. When she communed with the Kree’s Supreme intelligence so too did we feel the effects of the electrical cables wrapping around her legs, and in one scene when Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury put too much trust in what appeared to be a cat, a surprising puff of air to the eye.

There were times when it became more of a distraction though. While sparring scenes with Jude Law linked up impressively well with punch effects in the seat, the novelty of having the theater seat hit back with every on-screens swing wore thin quickly. So too did the moving seat. While it complimented moments like gently tilting back in the weightlessness of space, there were more times I felt jostled around and like I’d slide out of my seat.

While it was actually a fun novelty for a popcorn-movie like Captain Marvel, and it definitely added to the experience in certain moments, 4DX still has some improvements to undergo before feeling truly immersive.