Movie review: Hugo
Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. With movies like ‘Gangs of New York’, ‘Shutter Island’ and many, many more, how does he perform while making a family film loosely based upon one of the greatest filmmakers of another era, Georges Méliès? To keep things short; he does very well. I’ll tell you why.
Whenever Scorsese is casting for a new project, famous actors line up to feature in them. After having Leonardo DiCaprio in his last three films, he has chosen a different approach. The starring actors are Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjama’s) and Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick Ass). Other actors are the aging Ben Kingsley and Christopher Lee, while Sacha Baron Cohen and Jude Law also have a respectable role in this film.
Apparently, this film has done the 3D effect very well. I didn’t have the fortune of seeing it in 3D, but it didn’t really bother me. There aren’t any gimmicks to bring forth the 3D-effect added, luckily. Anyway, the only film I’ve seen in 3D was ‘The Three Musketeers’, so I wouldn’t be a good judge on that.
The movie starts of with showing Hugo’s current lifestyle, which isn’t pretty. Being an orphan, he spends most of his day between the walls of a Parisian trainstation. After being caught stealing, his notebook, the only thing he has left from his father, was apprehended by the shop owner, Ben Kingsley.
Here, the story really starts. While trying to get his notebook back from Kingsley, ‘Hugo’ teams up with ‘Isabelle’, Kingsley’s adopted daughter. Together, they try to uncover Georges’ secret, while getting into enough trouble to make this film deserving of a few laughs.
This is not like Scorsese’s normal work, and if you were expecting a great action movie like ‘The Departed’ or ‘Goodfellas’, you’re in the wrong area. This is a movie for the family, and should be considered as such. Even though it’s a great and touching story about the works and demise of Georges Méliès, and has the clichéd happy ending. Sacha Baron Cohen is more annoying than funny, but he has his short moments. Due to the moustache he has in the film, the only thing I could think about while seeing Cohen was Borat, the role which made him famous with the mainstream audience.
I wouldn’t recommend this film if you wanted to see an epic timepiece. It’s kinda boring if you expected something exciting, which it is clearly not. If you want to see a feel good movie, this might be the film for you.
Thank you for the review! I’ve been trying to find reviews on Hugo without the 3D effect, so I’m very happy to have come across your posting. All of the other reviews I’ve read seem to think that without the added 3D effects, viewers won’t get the same feel for the movie in an at-home setting. I’m very glad to hear that is not the case! All in all, it sounds like the perfect family movie to order this weekend in HD through my job at Dish. I’m very much looking forward to it. I’m also very surprised to hear that Sacha Baron Cohen stars in this film as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything out of his weird Borat like movies. It sounds like he is his annoying self though, so I won’t get my hopes up that I’ll take him seriously, lol. 🙂