Lion King 4DX Review: A Nostalgic Magical Adventure

Before today I had never experienced the magic of 4DX. Many of the cinemas local to me don’t include this luxury. Not even an IMAX!

That’s not really an issue as the best part of an IMAX screening for me is the IMAX demo at the start. The rest is a little underwhelming in comparison, the image quality isn’t vastly improved and you see a bit more of the shot.

4DX was taken in the same novelty vein as IMAX to me and as such, I had a take it or leave it attitude. After leaving The Lion King screening boy oh boy do I regret not going sooner.

Thanks to 4DX I had the opportunity to visit a Cineworld in Birmingham to watch the brand new movie The Lion King. The seats looked like any other but in the rafters were fans, strobe lights and all sorts of various machines.

At the front of the screen stood two fog machines and in front of each seat were two jets and a bar containing various nozzles. In the backs of our seat were two more nozzles.

Even sitting down was a new experience. The armrests were the standard uncomfortable Cineworld armrests but the seats were much softer. Much comfier. You sit a little higher than normal and your feet rest on a platform. Let the fun begin.

The Lion King in 4DX

Before the film started a P&O Cruise advert begun. Suddenly the seats were swaying as thou we were on a boat. The fans blew a gentle breeze and suddenly the smell of fresh, clean open-air wafted through the cinema. Like a fresh summery smell.

The fact I even remember the name of the cruise company shows you that the advert had an impact on me. This was only a taster of what was to come and already I was enjoying this new experience.

The Lion King as a whole is a complete live-action retelling of the original animated story. The whole film is CGI but you wouldn’t believe it for a second. The vast scenery and the sheer detail of everything on display down to every last hair on the lion’s mane. It was breathtaking.

You wouldn’t guess for a minute that the lion was computer-generated, you could just as easily be watching a nature documentary. The work and effort that has gone into making the movie look that good just has to be commended. What an outstanding job!

This photo-real rendering brings the movie to life. The evilness of Scar is projected through his eyes rather than his voice which for a CGI character is unheard of. The brave-hearted Mufasa voiced once again by James Earl Jones commands respect from his authoritative voice and bold stature.

Simba’s voice was a little bit annoying for me and even as he grew up still sounded a little teen movie to me. Apologies to Donald Glover who voiced Simba in this movie!

Feel free to check out my video review also!

Beyonce’ killed it as Nala. She injected a certain passion into the character and naturally nailed the singing parts. I went into the movie not knowing who was voicing who (apart from Seth Rogan as Pumba) and I’m glad I did. That way star power can’t overshadow my judgement of each individual part.

Whilst in places the comedy seemed forced it still made me beam from ear to ear with nostalgic pride. Everything about this live-action remake pays respect to the original. It’s true to the plot, it resurrects the old songs and beautifully hits the emotional sequences with the same impact as the original movie did.

It’s a film that really didn’t need a live-action remake but if only for the 4DX experience I’m glad they did.

The Lion King 4DX Experience

Every single time the camera pans in the film the chairs subtly move. You feel as thou you’re on a floating rig flying through the set. It’s hard to describe but the motion alone is so subtle with the gentle camera pans.

The immersion starts at the very beginning of the film. When a stampede rolls past the chairs come into life and shake you around as wildebeest charge through the pride lands.

A stroll through the meadow and the fans brush wind around you and the scent of a fresh open plain waft into the auditorium. I was so impressed by the scents and the sheer perfect timing of the combinations.

When a fight scene erupted you were prodded into the back or your feet were whiskered with a brush. Every punch or scuffle prod timed with the vibrations to perfection. The vibrations did last a little longer than normal at times but as a whole, it was so brilliantly done.

To think that someone has spent the time meticulously programming every aspect of this experience for the 4DX cinema is mind-blowing.

The water effects came in beautifully as Simba ran through water or under a waterfall. A gentle mist hit my face in this scene that genuinely gave me child-like butterflies. 4DX was bringing Disney magic alive in front of my eyes.

When scenes took a more sinister turn fog entered the screen as Simba and Nala visited the dreaded elephant graveyard. Gusts of wind brush past your ears and straight at your face at certain key sequences.

It really is immersion on a scale I’ve never experienced before.

The Lion King was the perfect film to view in 4DX. Every beat of the song timed with vibrations, a stroke of lightning on-screen was matched by a strobe flash in the cinema.

There is only so much I can describe without you needing to experience it for yourselves. Get down to your local 4DX cinema and relive those magical Disney moments in live-action 4DX immersive glory.

Book your 4DX cinema experience today at www.cineworld.co.uk/4DX

All images © 2019 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Review by Sean Evans