If you’re expecting seatbelts at the 4DX screening of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” you’ll be disappointed. Unlike 2018’s wildly intense “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” which actually required them, you won’t slam into your neighbor. You won’t nearly fall out of your chair. But you won’t be watching a very good movie either. And the 4DX format’s effects will illustrate exactly why.

The technology is a staple at theme parks, where 4DX “rides” are filmgoing experiences with a physical component — water spraying you when there’s a splash in a pond, or seats swerving left and right to mimic the movements of a racecar. CJ 4DPlex, the company bringing this experience to wide-release, full-length movies in select cinemas around the world, cites 21 “stunningly realistic effects” in its catalog, including lightning, snow and bubbles.

Undoubtedly due to its association with children’s rides, the format is dismissed as a gimmick. But it should really be considered an intellectual exercise. Sure, the wind occasionally makes it hard to hear dialogue, and the flashing lights take you out of the movie when they light up the theater’s walls. But a lot of thought is required to artfully complement a film by adding multisensory elements. Especially when the film itself lacks artfulness. If you really want to understand how a picture works, there is no better way than this.