Before walking into the theater, there's this outside the door. I experienced all of these at least once during "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (except I think fog and lightning, although there were some trippy light-effects).
There's also this pretty intimidating warning outside the door, which should honestly precede any movie theater — no children under four years old sounds great, 4DX or not.
At first glance, it looks like a regular theater (this photo was taken from higher seats, so don't worry, they're not all that close to the screen).
These are the seats (yes, they're comfy, but no, they don't recline).
Upon closer inspection, you start to notice the differences.
For starters, there's a "water on" and "water off" option. So if you don't want to experience the water, you can turn it off. I recommend it, though: it's not as much as some may expect/want, but it's enough to get the effect and you won't walk out of the theater soaked.
There's this in front of you, which I honestly thought would come down across your knees when the movie started, like a theme park ride would lock you in. Spoiler: It's not THAT intense, and this, somewhat disappointingly, doesn't come down (it's where some of the effects like water are released from). Air to emulate wind is released from the back of your chair, too.
Off-topic, slightly: I found this convenient Snapchat filter before the movie started, just in case I forgot what I was about to watch.
And then the trailers started. One movie previewed that would probably be perfect for 4DX was Jason Statham's upcoming giant shark movie, "The Meg." Jason Statham! A giant shark! 4DX! The marketing campaign writes itself.
The audience is then treated to an introduction to 4DX, which is kind of misleading (I never threw my arms up in the air like a roller coaster, but if that's your style, go for it).
And then the movie finally started, and it was a blast. Maybe my opinion is skewed slightly because of the 4DX, but it really is a fun experience. I recommend seeing the movie with a packed theater, and luckily, my 4DX theater had a good crowd that seemed really into it, which made the whole experience even better.
Here were some of my favorite, spoiler-free sequences in 4DX: The car-chase that's been heavily teased in the trailers is a great time. The seats move more than usual, air hits your face as if you're in the car, etc. And when Ant-Man emerges from the water and towers over a boat, also teased in the trailers, is fun, too. Water is sprayed on you and I even felt it dripping from above. There's also a bit involving a "truth-serum" and you can smell something in the theater as it's injected into a character.
