Waiting to enter the first dome –– of The Marvel Experience’s total of seven –– may make you feel as if you’re about to step into Jurassic Park. It’s all searchlights, huge digital projections, and massive images of superheroes displayed around the big white structures and crowd-control fences. From above, the seven domes must look like two acres of Fair Park have been placed under strict quarantine. It seems that Hero Ventures, the company behind the attraction, has spared no expense. But then you go in.
The first dome is not unlike a demo room in a Guitar Center: electric green stage lights, exposed scaffolding, and an overall ’90s rock vibe. But instead of someone playing and replaying a Metallica riff on an Ibanez while pretending to be contemplating a purchase, you find a CGI rendition of Tony Stark on the LCD screens that line the dome’s scaffolding. He welcomes your group to your first day on the job, because, in this particular digital haunted house, you’re all new S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits. And the first thing any new S.H.I.E.L.D. officer sees on the job is Iron Man (right?).
The second dome –– a mission briefing from a CGI Nick Fury –– drops the flat-screens in favor of a projection across the majority of the interior. It involves Wolverine, here in his classic yellow spandex, and the evil Kirby/Lee-created Super-Adaptoids. The quality of the projection/CGI conveys that a huge portion of the project’s $30 million price tag must have gone to licensing fees, because it’s not onscreen.
The third dome sees The Marvel Experience transition from digital haunted house to digital fair: It’s a sprawling, open space filled with various exhibits, games, and lots of big LCD screens, and it’s where kids can wear themselves out and parents can visit the cash bar. The exhibits –– heroes’ weapons, pieces of their suits –– are cool but not too dissimilar from what you might see on display while in line at Six Flags. The games largely feature iPad-level technology. You can fly Iron Man by moving around in front of a screen. There’s another screen that reflects you, and –– when you strike the right pose –– an animated Avenger will appear briefly beside you. You can also touch points on a large digital map to learn about previous and ongoing villain-related incidents around the globe. (When a new incident arises, you can select how to respond, but no matter what you choose –– sending one Avenger, no Avengers, or all of them –– nothing happens.)
The kids can really get sweaty on the Spider-Man climbing wall, a group light-gun game in which players shoot at robots, and a Black Widow agility maze, which is pretty fun –– you have to navigate a hallway while avoiding security alarm-triggering “laser” beams.
The only thing that may come close to entertaining a fanboy here is Classified Files, a display of oversized Marvel Comics covers, which is to say: There’s not much here for the average fanboy.
Dome 4 verges on the experience promised on the TV commercial: The entire space is covered in a CGI video projection of an attack that features many well-known heroes (as well as Black Panther), and Red Skull is somehow involved, because, well, why not? He’s pretty cool. There’s a moment amid the chaos that’s pretty incredible, when the heroes drop into a sewer system and then re-emerge –– the way the circular opening of the sewer combines with the dome-shaped, 360-degree projection is an inspired use of the technology at hand, and it makes your stomach sink and the audience cheer. Unfortunately, it lasts only about five minutes.
Dome 5 is pretty close to Dome 1: Stuff plays on TV screens. It ends with Hulk tearing a door open onscreen as a big Hulk hand pulls open the room’s exit, which is a really cool moment, and it makes you realize this haunted house could have been really great if it relied on LCD screens just a little less and integrated more tangible props.
In Dome 6, you sit in mechanized seats, facing a projected CGI video that fills half the dome and simulates an airship attack on robots (including a giant Red Skull-bot). For unknown reasons, you’re occasionally blasted in the face with air. When there’s an explosion, your seat vibrates. The film is too short, though, and it’s kind of patronizing. You’re asked to participate, but when you do, you realize the video is fully scripted. And then you feel like dumb dummy.
Regular tickets run about $40 after processing fees, and whether it’s worth that price depends on what you’re expecting. If you’re looking for a groundbreaking 3D experience, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re visiting because you’re a big fan of the films, you won’t find any connection to them here. If you’re a kid, you’ll have a blast, and that’s basically what The Marvel Experience is all about. Just make sure that if you’re a parent and not made of money you usher your little ones through Dome 7 faster than Quicksilver.
Dome 7 is the gift shop.
INFO
Thru Sat at Fair Park Coliseum (1300 Robert B. Cullum Blvd., Dallas). $39.82 (includes fees and taxes). 214-670-8400.
