When the Director Martin Scorsese announces a film there
are great expectations and Hugo is no exception especially when it’s a family
tale with a huge budget. The stunning sets greet us and we meet Hugo, played by
the convincing Asa Butterfield, in the first scene of the film as he navigates
the walls of the station, this being his home and where he winds the clocks. A
past film master, George Melies, played by the eminent Ben Kingsley, who is
dejected and now owns the toy shop soon runs into Hugo and we are led through a
story of historical tragedy, post war Paris and the origins of film. Sacha
Baron Cohen appears as the strange station bobby and the hunter of homeless
children, a potential threat for the orphaned Hugo and the adopted Isabelle, Chloë
Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) acts as Hugo’s companion on his voyage of discovery.
But the pace stutters as Scorsese attempts to weave into the plot the history
of film rather than focusing on developing the characters. There are too many
silences and moments of grief, too many questioning looks and the doors remain
closed on what is a magical world. Hugo has all the ingredients you could want
in a memorable family film and at times is exhilarating and mysterious, but
disappointingly the picture that it draws is incomplete.
71/100
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