Batman V Superman: A Dolby Atmos experience

Got myself two invites to the Batman V Superman (enhanced with Dolby Atmos) screening, courtesy of GSC.

Dolby Atmos is an audio technology by Dolby that enables immersive audio experience and allows up to 64 speakers to be used to provide the surround experience.

Batman V Superman
Contrary to what many reviews have indicated (one example is by Wired), I think Batman V Superman is actually quite good. I don’t really know what else to write without spoiling it for those who have not watched the movie yet. Suffice to say, there is quite a bit of focus on the characters to help viewers understand why Batman and Superman react they way they do in the movie. There is no lack of action in this movie too.

But I feel Wonder Woman steals the spotlight in this movie. She is simply amazing!

If there is any bit that I find a “off”… It is Lex Luthor. Somehow, I feel this version of Lex is just “over-the-top”. Think of Joker, minus the makeup. Or to put it another way, give Lex some makeup and dye his hair green… Walla! Joker!

Dolby Atmos
I am impressed by what a Dolby Atmos setup is capable of. It was very evident from the special Dolby Atmos demo videos that were played before the movie. On one such demo video, I saw my son suddenly looking around in the cinema. When I asked him what was he doing, he said he was thought he heard birds flying around inside the cinema. That is how impressive it can be!

The cinema hall had speakers “littered” all over. We could see many speakers at the front, back, sides and also overhead (at least I believe those are speakers anyway).

But sadly, during the movie, such “surround effects” were hardly heard. This is despite the fact that before the movie started, there was an intro by the director Zack Snyder telling viewers to enjoy the experience that we will get from watching the movie in a Dolby Atmos cinema.

GSC @ Nu Sentral
The screening was at GSC Nu Sentral. Interestingly, the Dolby Atmos hall is located on Level 4 (the rest of the halls are at Level 5). The lobby outside this hall is spacious. I won’t be surprised if this hall is regularly booked for company events.

I had arrived with a jacket, expecting the cinema to be super cold like how it is with other cinemas. Turns out, it was actually quite warm. Too warm to the point where I did wonder if the air-conditioning system was actually working or not.

There was also a minor technical issue during the first 5 minutes of the screening. The video positioning was slightly off. The video was projected higher than it should be, so the top part of the movie was projected on the “curtains”. But like I said, it was only the first few minutes of the screening.

Still… All in, it was a good experience. I know Gabriel and I had a good time!