\u201cWonka\u201d is the sophomore attempt by Cosm to redefine the moviegoing experience \u2014 \u201cThe Matrix\u201d got the Cosm treatment last summer and \u201cHarry Potter and the Sorcerer\u2019s Stone\u201d will follow next year. Seeing a film in what the venue calls \u201cshared reality\u201d can be all-encompassing and yet intimate as well as communal and, if everything works out, somewhat thoughtful. The 87-foot diameter spherical screen wraps above, below and behind us, but an emphasis on couch seating invites a cooperative environment. And guests are encouraged, for instance, to pull out their phones and capture and share the moment. <\/p>\n
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The spherical screen can give the illusion of dimension. <\/p>\n
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It\u2019s good fun, if you don\u2019t take it too seriously, as experiential, in the case of \u201cWonka,\u201d means a film dedicated to the power of imagination sometimes leaves a little less to it. Spirited and bright, Cosm\u2019s approach to \u201cWonka,\u201d a collaboration with experiential firm Secret Cinema and visual effects house MakeMake, is to ensure audiences are never not surrounded by eye candy. The result is alternately charming and clashing \u2014 why, I wondered, isn\u2019t the animation done in a 1970s style to better complement the film? <\/p>\n
In turn, has the film\u2019s new magic replaced its subtle mystery? Or is that the wrong question to ask at screenings meant to feel like a social event, complete with chocolate tarts filled with peanut butter mousse and bright red vodka drinks with gold glitter salt rims?<\/p>\n
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\u201cWilly Wonka\u201d is the second Hollywood film, following \u201cThe Matrix,\u201d to run at Cosm. <\/p>\n
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For this is experiential at its most maximal. Opening credits that unfold in the film with streams of chunky chocolate are now accompanied with smoothed-out images that look partly inspired by \u201cSuper Mario Bros.,\u201d as tubes and pipes aim to place the audience inside a milky-chocolate-pouring factory. It\u2019s cute, and you\u2019ll find yourself diverting your attention from the framed screen of the film to take in the toy-like animated mechanisms. My only qualm here was the edges of the filmed footage have been sharpened away by gleamingly untroubled animation. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, news reports in the film are elongated to show us an entire, cartoon-like studio, scenes of galloping children on the sidewalk rush by as added assembly lines churn out chocolate below them and the movie\u2019s first major song and dance moment, \u201cThe Candy Man,\u201d is now surrounded by carnival-inspired visuals with swirling Candy Buttons, slot-machine-like flowers and gentle prods to, if not sing along, at least mouth the lyrics. <\/p>\n
\u201cWonka,\u201d a moderate success when it was released, grew in stature over time as Sammy Davis Jr. turned \u201cThe Candy Man\u201d into a hit and second-run screenings on television made it vital at-home viewing for generations to come. It is, at times, delightfully demented, a family film with a weird streak \u2014 perhaps at times even a slightly sinister one. And yet I went to Cosm\u2019s \u201cWonky\u201d premiere not as a film critic but as someone curious about burgeoning movements in the immersive industry, interested more in how Cosm could use its tech to enhance, revitalize or find ways to illuminate a second-run film. <\/p>\n
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At Cosm, when Charlie discovers his golden ticket, digital fireworks erupt. <\/p>\n
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Illuminate is a key word, as when young Peter Ostrum as Charlie unwraps a candy bar with the much-sought-after golden ticket, the animated images around the framed screen erupted in fireworks. I remember watching that scene as a kid and feeling a bit tense, fearing, perhaps, the ticket would be snatched from him by the crowd that consumes him. Yet Cosm aims to turn \u201cWonka\u201d into pure joy. Such a moment was a reminder at how much sway over the emotional tonality of the film such supplemental material can possess. <\/p>\n
In that sense, the immersive ambitions of Cosm differ from experiments of the past \u2014 interactive dalliances in the \u201990s that recently lived again<\/a> on Netflix (see \u201cBlack Mirror: Bandersnatch\u201d), or more recent 4DX theaters with movement-enabled seats (see the light, water and wind effects of \u201cTwisters\u201d). Perhaps that\u2019s why what I thought worked best leaned more abstract, when, say, cartoonish cityscapes gave way to black-and-white pencil-like effects, or when the animations played up the wackiness of Wonka\u2019s factory rather than try to flesh it out. <\/p>\n A whimsical scene featuring the Oompa Loompas.<\/p>\n (Cosm)<\/p>\n I was distracted, for instance, when Wilder\u2019s Wonka made his grand limping entrance, as the sheepish building behind him was now dwarfed by sparkly, shiny warehouses. Yet I was transfixed when Wilder\u2019s character near the end was framed amid blindingly fast streaks of light, or when the helper Oompa Loompa characters were depicted out of frame as colorful orbs that looked like strands of DNA. <\/p>\n ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ at Cosm<\/p>\n <\/p>\n