We splashed out and had a big treat a few weeks ago in London, when we went to the Odeon Lounge for a showing of Kick-Ass 2.  

We have the lounge movie experiences in Los Angeles, but for as much as Dan and I go to the movies, we have never tried one. After a long day of sightseeing, we needed to have a relaxing night out and decided to give it a shot. 

The lounge area is separate from the rest of the cinema. We were greeted at the lounge entrance by an employee who was our server both in the lounge and in the screening room. We had already picked our seats when we purchased our tickets and he instructed us to enjoy the lounge and told us that he would personally escort us to our seats about ten minute prior to the start of the film.

The lounge is beautifully done, with plush seats and low level, romantic lighting. We were there on a work night and there were only a handful of people in the lounge and in our showing. I imagine that on a busy night, it would feel like being at a nightclub and it would almost seem a shame to leave the bar to head into a movie. I'm saying this as a huge movie fan!

I ordered an espresso martini and Dan had a Dark & Stormy to drink as we lounged in the bar. It was too early in the evening to have dinner in the cinema, so we did a reverse and had dessert first. We each had a massive serving of profiteroles with ice cream that we were served in the cinema during the previews.

The seats in the theater are clustered into small rows, that feel intimate. Unless you're a very small party and the the theater is packed, you are likely to only be sitting with your personal group. The seats to the side fully recline and seem to be the preferred spots. It's small enough that every seat has a great view. 

Although a very lovely theater with great staff, I'm not sold on the experience. It was very distracting. We had a call button in our seats in case we wished to place additional orders during the film. I can't imagine doing this, but other people did. Although the server was as discreet as possible, it was hard to tune out the talking and noise associated with order taking and delivery. It was horrible. 

The checks arrived in the last fifteen minutes of the film, during the climax. I have no idea why this couldn't have been handled immediately after the movie, as it was a huge distraction. 

I think this experience would be okay, if the food/drink service was done outside of the theater. I would have loved to have enjoyed a meal in the lounge prior to the movie and just had cocktails (preordered) during the film. It was too fussy and distracting of an environment to really enjoy a movie.

On the flip side, the experience was okay, because Kick-Ass 2, was not a very good film.  I had not seen the original Kick-Ass, but had heard great things about it. The second one was such a mediocre film, that it left me with zero desire to watch the original, despite the positive reviews and urging of friends. Kick-Ass 2 was extremely silly with forgettable, cardboard characters and a stereotypical villain. i couldn't help but think that I was missing something from not having seen the first movie and that impacted my interest in the movie.