Too much desert power? Reckoning with Dune: Part Two in 4DX

Dune: Part Two is really, really popular right now, and for good reason. The worms are really big and Austin Butler is really bald, among other things. But while people scramble for 70mm IMAX tickets like warring factions on the planet Arrakis, there is an alternate route for those who don’t want to see Denis Villeneuve’s sweeping epic for the first time in regular old digital. The film is also offered in 4DX, a technology-rich new experience from Regal Cinemas featuring “more than 20 effects” that range from dramatic chair motion to fog machines, strobe lights, squirting water, and more. It’s… a lot.

But is Dune: Part Two in 4DX immersive or annoying? The A.V. Club’s Saloni Gajjar and Emma Keates went to find out, and, well, we were about as split as the Fremen in Part One on whether or not to allow Paul and Jessica into their lives. Should you incorporate this bold new experience into your moviegoing rotation? Read on to find out if 4DX is right for you.

Saloni Gajjar: To be honest, I thought it was fucking brilliant. Talk about having an immersive movie-viewing experience, huh? It was kind of the perfect movie for 4DX, in my opinion.

EK: I hated every minute of it, to be completely honest. To me, it felt like seeing a movie in an actively crashing plane, or while experiencing a localized, 2.5-hour, magnitude 7 earthquake. And there was no off button if you changed your mind! I totally see how it could be appealing but it was definitely not for me.

SG: That’s exactly why it worked for me. The seats shake violently every damn time a ship lands on the sand, when characters are fighting, or when the camera is slowly moving across the desert. It made me really get into it. It was ridiculous, sure, but the film is so visually stunning. The intense movement felt like it was transporting me to Arrakis.

It’s an almost unreal way to watch a film. But no director, DOP, actor, or anyone else envisions their audience holding on to their popcorn for dear life while enjoying their work, so the criticism is also fair.

EK: For me, it was mostly really distracting. The movement of the seats was funny at the very beginning. I found myself laughing for all the wrong reasons, even if there were some surprisingly comedic moments in the film itself. By the end, it was just frustrating. I found myself filled with dread every time someone took out a knife or boarded a spaceship, and I didn’t want to be! The action sequences were way too cool and well thought out to be supplemented like that. I spent most of the movie dreaming about seeing it again in a seat that wasn’t actively attacking me.

SG: I was sitting next to you so I could tell when you were bracing yourself for said attack.

EK: Then again, who knows? Maybe the next time I see [redacted] riding a [redacted] (no spoilers here!) it will be missing a little extra oomph.

SG: And I was like, “Yes BRING IT ON” whenever I looked around and felt like I was on a roller-coaster watching one of the year’s best new movies. It’s such a unique experience.

EK: You were laughing for the right reasons.

SG: In all seriousness, it was distracting, I can’t deny that. The audience spent the first hour laughing, and I kept thinking, “If you want to turn Dune 2 into a laugh riot, watch it in 4DX.” But I didn’t mind it, it was even more of a collective experience than I anticipated.

EK: Yeah, what did you think of watching it in a theater where everyone was so animated? It wasn’t just the seats, too. Fog machines and flashing lights went off every few minutes, especially in explosive-heavy scenes. I didn’t need that either, but I didn’t mind it quite as much.

I do have to say, seeing everyone else being rattled around was a sight I’ll treasure for a very long time.

SG: The fog was hilarious, too, at least the timing of it. You’ll get Austin Butler’s zoomed-in face, his hardcore voice and expressions, and then suddenly fog from below the screen partially covering his chiseled features and glistening bald head.

EK: There might as well have been airhorns, lasers, and a split screen playing subway surfers to boot. That was the energy the whole experience gave off to me.

SG: It was like sitting on a long-ass Universal Studios Dune-themed ride. As a fan of that concept, it worked for me. It is what we signed up for, and they delivered.

Do you think it was the right kind of movie for 4DX? Are there scenes that stood out to you, one way or another?

EK: If I were to do this again, I’d rather see a movie I cared about a little less. I would have relaxed and enjoyed the ride (literally!) more for what it was if I wasn’t so concerned with what was actually happening on the screen. But if you’re the type of person who enjoys 4DX or thinks they might, then a big, epic film like this would probably be the perfect thing to go out for. That sandworm scene was really great.

What about you? What were some of your favorite moments?

SG: For some reason, I wasn’t ever taken out of the actual story or narrative of Dune: Part Two despite the raging motion. So I was enamored as hell when the Fremen were fighting off an ambush and we moved along with them. Or when Paul and Feyd-Rautha are feuding, at one point it felt like we were being lowkey stabbed by the soft leather of the seat.

I think my favorite moment is the first time I felt like, “Okay, this shit rules,” and it’s when a Harkonnen ship lands. We felt every bit of that. It stood out because it’s also when the seat speedily started blowing air into the back of our heads, by the way. And then Paul riding that massive sandworm was epic. If I’m watching a movie like this one, I want to know what it feels like to ride a damn sandworm, okay?

EK: That’s so fair. I wish they could have gone all in and actually birthed a sandworm for us to ride around on. Or given us the water of life to try. I want to see my future too! (At the moment, I wanted it to be in a chair that doesn’t move.)

SG: So much of the action stuff makes me think Dune: Part Two was an ideal 4DX movie, though. I appreciated the quieter, subtler moments more because they felt far more tangible than they would normally. Like Paul and Chani’s conversations and first kiss, Paul talking to his mother, Lady Jessica’s talks with her unborn child, etc. I was oddly feeling all of those moments impactfully because the theater literally quieted down. If that makes sense…

EK: Yeah, it definitely did emphasize how precious and rare those quiet moments were in the midst of so much chaos and violence.

SG: Would I want to see every movie in this manner? No. But if you can pick and choose wisely, I think 4DX is an unmissable event.

EK: It sounds like you’d see a movie in 4DX again, but have you given any thought to what type of movie? Dune: Part Two is pretty once in a lifetime.

SG: I know, but because I loved it so much, I’m okay with this being my only big-screen Dune: Part Two experience for now. I want to revel in it instead of watching it again right away. To me, this was perfect. I do think 4DX is blockbuster-specific. There’s a point in watching a chill rom-com or comedy in that environment. Imagine a Top Gun, though? Or the next Fast & Furious film? The whiplash would be unreal, but I’d do it.

EK: Top Gun already felt like a theme park ride, so I think I actually would have enjoyed that. Or at least not been so damn tense the whole time.

SG: To wrap up, should we make a brief pro and con list of watching Dune: Part Two, or I guess movies in general, in 4DX?

Pros: It’s almost hypnotic how much you feel you’re part of the screen, and there will be a lot of laughs. Cons: You’ll have to hold on to your drink/popcorn tightly in some scenes.

Either way, I highly recommend finding out if there’s a 4DX showing of Dune: Part Two near you.

EK: I have a lot of cons, as you’ve probably already gathered, but my biggest one is that I don’t think you should need a massage or a session with a chiropractor after seeing a movie. It also added a little extra something (in a bad way) to be holding on to my drink and popcorn for dear life the entire run-time of the film. My pros are that I had a very fun and very, very funny night out with my friends, and that I now have a really good excuse to go see it again in a normal theater, which I’m thrilled about.

Whichever way you see it, the real takeaway is that Dune: Part Two rules. Go see it on the biggest (and maybe most fog machine-filled?) screen you can.