Hugo (2011)

Hugo is a fresh movie released just a couple of days ago right before Christmas to become an amazing Christmas gift for movie buffs and not only. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Hugo is a bizarre movie and a nice fairy tale among such Scorsese's variety including Shutter Island, The Departed, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver and more.

The least impressive thing about it is probably the trailer. It looks like another fantasy movie to compete with such iconic ones as Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia or Bridge to Terabithia. This is a wrong idea. The best way to dispel this myth is to watch the movie of course. Hugo is absolutely a different story with a deep message, so that it will be a wonderful movie experience for adults as well as for kids. But before you decide on it, you can look through this plot synopsis to get an idea about the picture.

The whole story takes place on a train station in 1930's Paris. There is a boy Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), whose father died and now he is living inside a clock with his alcoholic uncle, who taught him how to wind the clock and keep it right. All his free time Hugo spends on fixing a robotic man, whose his father found in the museum. The boy thinks this is his mission to make it work, besides this robot is supposed to write and he expects him to deliver his father's message. As he lacked some details, he stole them from George (Ben Kingsley), an old man the owner of a toy shop. This is where his adventures start! And this is Isabelle (Chloe Moretz), George's granddaughter, who will help Hugo to overcome the difficulties on his way.

First off, this movie is made in 3D, so if you have an opportunity to watch in with all its visual effects, don't miss a chance. The film is very beautiful, it wouldn't be so without the 3D which adds to it's beauty and makes everything around you real and breathtaking. It's like watching a lesson in film history with lot of magnificent visual aids.

The performance is excellent. Along side main heroes, who were great, especially Asa Butterfield, Scorsese focused on some minor characters (flower girl, a woman with a dog) and let us see their personal metamorphosis during the movie. The most memorable is probably Inspector Gustav. His 'French' is very natural and his smile is indeed charming. I liked the way his relationships with a flower girl developed.

The main story revolves around the history of cinematography, but it would be boring to watch something like a popular science film. Instead, there is a secret, intrigue Hugo and the viewers are longing to discover. First, it concerns the mechanical man, I was wondering what it will write when fixed. Actually, it couldn't write but could draw and drew a strange picture. Then, there is a secret about George, who turned to be a formerly famous film director George Melies. At last, it was very involving to discover all these step by step.

When it comes to musical, naturally much attention is paid to music but I decided to mention it in this review as well. It's lovely and you seem to have a short trip into France. It's not Amelie of course full of charming tunes, but still the music complemented to the magic atmosphere of the film and helped to enhance each scene.

Much can be told about the settings too, but no word can describe them the way they really look. The best way to get an idea of them is to watch this movie, thus you'd better give in a try.