Hugo

Hugo is Martin Scorsese's latest film, his first in 3D, based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. It was written by John Logan, directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Sacha Baron Cohen.



Going into this film, I was a bit worried. Sure it's Scorsese, but he's doing 2 new things he's never done before: 3D, and a kids film. I thought it would come out good, but not great. Instead, we have one of his most heartfelt films, and one of the best he's ever made. It's a love letter to the early days of cinema.

For every decade Scorsese's been doing films, he has one great film per decade. The 70s, Taxi Driver. The 80s, Raging Bull. The 90s, Goodfellas. The 00s, The Departed. And for the 10s, we have Hugo. Sure we have 8 more years left of him making films (including a possible Sinatra biopic), but I just don't see how he can top this. How is this one of the best films he's ever made? The film, at first glance, looks like it's about two children, on an adventure, in 1920s Paris. Instead, the film is a love letter to cinema, a tribute to the history of cinema, and Georges Melies, one of the earliest filmmakers.

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is a young orphan living inside a train station, who lost his father (Jude Law) in a fire. He's working on an automaton his father found. He steal parts from a local toy-shop owner (Ben Kingsley), and is eventually caught. He is forced to work in the shop, and eventually meets Isabelle (Chole Grace Moretz), the toy-shop owner's goddaughter. Together, these two find themselves swept up in an adventure involving some of cinema's earliest films.

Let's start with the acting. The main cast all does very good, especially our two leads, Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Moretz. Butterfield is able to capture this sense of hope and despair at the same time, and Moretz is just infectiously fun. Ben Kingsley is also tremendous, playing one of cinema's earliest filmmakers. I'd also like to mention that Sacha Baron Cohen, an actor known for playing comedic roles, does a good job here as the (sort of) villain of the story, the inspector. He's an extremely versatile actor, and I always look forward to seeing his films.

Scorsese has done a lot for film preservation. So I can only imagine that as soon as Selznick released this novel, Scorsese instantly started making this film. It's arguably, the perfect film for him to make. Sure, there are no gangsters, Mafia, or De Niro/DiCaprio, but it's the perfect film for him to make, because it's about some of the earliest films ever made. And he does a tremendous job. There are references to some early films everywhere throughout the film, and he's actually able to make 3D work for the most part. I was genuinely surprised that I saw a 3D film not made by James Cameron that I genuinely enjoyed.

All in all, I severely recommend this film. It's a high class of kids films, and a damn good film at that. Your kid might not enjoy it, cause it definitely isn't a normal kids film. But it's still a damn good film, and if you want your child to see a good movie as opposed to a lot of the crap that comes out nowadays, show them this. Parents'll probably enjoy it too. I give it 10/10.