Vue Cinema, Westfield Shepherd's Bush

I like small cinemas, particularly the Picture House chain (our local is Clapham Picture House where we saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows on New Year’s Eve), whose establishments often have bars, cafes and other social areas no longer favoured by their larger multi-screen competitors. Big cinemas can be fun but they’re different, more clinical and somehow less friendly.

The Vue cinema at Westfield in Shepherd's Bush is not a small cinema. In fact, with sixteen standard and three luxury screens it's really quite large. Is it a cinema to which you might want to travel or one to avoid unless you're already in the shopping centre?

In my book, the key points by which the quality of a cinema should be judged are:

1. Picture - it needs to be clear, high definition, bright and of a good size with respect to the auditorium. 
2. Sound - the picture is normally fairly pointless without the audio, so we expect clarity, volume and balance. 
3. Seats - comfortable seats with adequate legroom and, ideally, somewhere to store a drink, are important, especially for long films. 
4. Auditorium - the auditorium should be clean, free from annoying distractions and kept at a comfortable temperature so that patrons neither freeze nor boil. 
5. Foyer - I like to see a welcoming foyer with friendly staff, pleasant seating and efficient service. 
6. Snacks - ice cream, popcorn, fizzy drinks and chocolate are staples but a selection of decent coffee and cakes never hurts. 
7. Other bits and pieces - some cinemas try harder than others and find ways to delight the customer and improve the overall experience, so this heading pulls together all the random things that make life a bit more bearable. 

For Vue at Westfield, my scores are:

1. Picture quality - 5/5. They have really good projectors and screens and their picture is the best I've ever seen. 
2. Sound quality - 4/5. Very good, but not quite up to the standard of the IMAX at Waterloo. 
3. Seats - 4/5. Pretty good with decent legroom and a cupholder. 
4. Auditorium - 3/5. Not bad but letting kids run around disturbing the film is a sign of poor control. 
5. Foyer - 2/5. A big, bland space for holding people and selling them things. It works, mostly, but it’s not pleasant. A missed opportunity. 
6. Snacks - 3/5. Not bad but unimaginative and fairly low-end with a large Pic’n’Mix being the highpoint. 
7. Other - 3/5. It’s in Westfield, so there are plenty of other things to do before and after the film, but if you don’t like shopping or if you want to chill in a nice pub with friends, you’re out of luck. 

That gives Vue at Westfield 24/35 which isn’t too bad for a chain cinema. The actual viewing experience is pretty good so I recommend, if you’re in the area and you want to see a film, that you give it a go. As a destination in its own right, Vue at Westfield probably isn’t worth the effort (unless you want to shop).