Hugo Review

In an era where CGI, animated spin-offs, sequels, reboots and cash-ins dominate the family-friendly cinema niche, it’s nice to see a film stray so far away from these norms. Not only is Martin Scorsese’s Hugo live-action, but it contains no apparent antagonist, an intriguing mystery instead of your usual good versus evil, and a smartly written tale of youthful discovery, all of which combine under Scorsese’s watchful eye to create a truly memorable cinematic experience. Hugo may not be derived from any well known brand, but the talent at hand here - both in front of and behind the camera - ensure that this is not a film to be missed, even in the midst of a very busy pre-holiday market.

Naturally, Hugo centers on Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a young boy in 1920s-era Paris. After his father dies in a fire, Hugo is left to fend for himself in a grand train station. When not evading the station inspector (Sacha Baron-Cohen), Hugo is tinkering with gears and attempting to repair an automaton left behind by his father. Soon enough, Hugo meets Isabelle (Chloe Grace-Moretz), the daughter of a toy salesman (Ben Kingsley). Isabelle literally holds the key to Hugo’s automaton, and soon the two have uncovered some old secrets derived from a message held by the mechanical man, detailing the fascinating origins of cinema itself.

The entire cast does a spectacular ensemble job. Butterfield gives a breakout performance in the titular role, Moretz (of Kick-Ass heritage) proves that she’s got some serious acting chops, Ben Kingsley gives a typically strong performance and Baron-Cohen shows us that he’s not limited to offensive R-rated comedies, providing some spectacular comic relief coupled with a substantial and touching subplot of his own. 

Where Hugo thrives is in crafting a believable world amidst the clever shenanigans it offers. We witness the growth of an amusing relationship between a man and a woman being held back by the woman’s aggressive dachshund. We pity the poor orphans just trying to get by without adult assistance. We feel warmth towards the kindly old librarian (played by veteran Christopher Lee). Though the station is only a small part of the enormous city, it feels like a self-contained civilization. Fitting, since within its walls the protagonist feels at home.

One oddity that the film conveys is in the accents of a few characters. Hugo, his father, Isabelle and a few others have what sounded to me like English accents, and they live in France. It isn’t made clear whether the characters were of English descent and had simply moved to France, or if it’s simply an aesthetic error on the filmmakers’ parts. Either way, it’s a small gripe but I easily noticed it all the same and it nagged at me throughout the duration of the film.

While it’s being marketed as a family film, that shouldn’t scare away mature moviegoers. Hugo’s narrative is unpredictable, interesting and surprisingly believable (but still satisfying) upon its conclusion. Scorsese’s touch is all over this movie, from the clever opening camera panning to the character shots to the way the film naturally bleeds from one subplot to another without a jarring change of scenery (e.g., Hugo steals a biscuit and eats it near a poll, the station inspector walks by this pole, Hugo sees him and runs away, and the station inspector walks over to try to talk to his crush, the flower saleswoman). This effect works to further maintain the living, breathing world that Hugo provides.

By Hugo’s conclusion, I truly did care for all of the characters, even those who didn’t seem the least bit likable to start. Every character’s backstory felt fleshed out and deep, even though not all of them were pivotal to the main plot. The amount of effort that must have gone in to making every inch of the world and its inhabitants feel tangible is relatively insurmountable by today’s cinema standards.

Hugo is not your run-of-the-mill family film. It’ll please young moviegoers and their parents alike, but probably for different reasons. The cast is near perfect, the script is sharp, the story is fascinating and, as is to be expected, the direction is seasoned and well implemented. Just because it doesn’t belong to a recognizable brand doesn’t mean this film should be overlooked. Quite the contrary. When something like Hugo comes along we as consumers must overlook its missteps and support its creative edge, because only if we do will we see filmmakers take the necessary risks to produce cinema to this caliber on a regular basis.

Final Score:

8.5/10
"Outstanding"