3 Jun 2010

Spider-Man and friends save London – in 4D!

spiderman and friends Marvel's Super Heroes battle Victor von Doom. Photograph: Guardian

Lightning does strike twice. Barely a day after Ken Livingstone announced plans to reclaim London from Tory clutches, six more cartoon superheroes have been seen defending the capital from the forces of evil.

Well, sort of: Madame Tussauds's newest attraction, a nine-minute film that opened today, features everyone's favourite comic characters trashing their way through the Big Smoke in not just two, not three, but – yup - four dimensions.

Four dimensions? Again, sort of: Marvel Super Heroes 4D, which shows Spidey and chums saving London landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and, er, Madame Tussauds from a nasty baddy called Victor von Doom, sees audience members sprayed with water-jets fitted to the seat in front, buffeted by air-streams contained within head-rests, and vibrated by a mechanical floor. So Spidey shouts, and you get a blast of cool air in your ear. Wolverine slices with his spikes, and your seat gives a jolt. The Hulk sneezes, and you're lightly peppered with water. Or is it bogeys? Who knows.