How you can tell if you're watching 3D in the movie theater

This has happened to me twice. I go to a 3-D (3D) film and the movie theater is running the movie in 2D. One theater caught it and gave me a pass. The other theater I had to get my money back after twenty minutes. So how do you know if the movie you are watching is in 3D? Here's two ways to tell.

1. Effects should pop. Now understand many conversions, movies converted from 2D to 3D, look unimpressive. But the first scenes of the studio logo are usually produced so that they pop. That means they stand out. For example, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) had the CGI logos of New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers pop. I felt I could touch the logos.

Here's more examples of the popping effect. Later in Journey 2, there's a scene where broken glass stands out in front of a character. A closeup of the eye of a character has depth. Again it's easier if you catch the logos at the front because you maybe watching a conversion. The great thing about Journey 2 is that it was filmed in 3D and it gives you that impressive pop.

2. Without 3D glasses the picture should be out of focus and have ghost images. During the movie, take off your 3D glasses for a few seconds. While viewing the movie without 3D glasses, the image should look out of focus. There should be ghosting of the images on the screen. If there isn't ghosting and you can watch the movie without 3D glasses, chances are it's not being run in 3D.

Conclusion. You want to determine whether a movie is being run by the theater in 3D right away. Once you determine it isn't, complain to an employee. If they don't stop the film right away to fix it, I would demand my money back. You pay extra money for a 3D movie. You should get to see it in 3D.