Hugo

This is a review for anyone who has been wondering about Martin Scorsese's "Hugo". It only screened in the UK this weekend so this may be late for folks in the US.

For me, this is one of those surprising films, kinda like "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" where you expect it to be very kid-oriented and happy, then it hits you pretty early on that it's really quite serious and was very sad at certain points. Despite this there were still some very nice and funny parts- Sacha Baron Cohen's character was pretty funny, and it was nice to see snippets of Christopher Lee as a kindly librarian who wasn't completely menacing for a change. The end of the film was heartwarming, and I felt that it was a really well-constructed story overall. The young actors Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Moretz were... well, adorable they got the emotion of the story across well and were very likeable characters.

One of the things I liked most about this film was that I actually learned a bit more about film from it, for example how sets were used in the beginnings of film-making, and I think this is a really great thing for child audiences to be aware of so that they could perhaps appreciate more films as they grow up. The style of the film was very steampunk-esque and the costumes were excellent, along with a few minor characters that added more humour for kids. All in all it looked great, and the obvious motif of clocks and clockworks gave it a stylised edge. As a film set in Paris, it was pretty packed with French stereotypes, but only the good sort like lounging in cafés, eating baguettes and wearing striped jumpers with berets.

If I'm honest I think this will end up being underrated as most of our audience were kids with parents- I'm not sure but perhaps this film may be too serious for younger child audiences, or maybe not "action-packed" enough for some. It depends on how the individual child responds to the story, but maybe it isn't the best for a kid with a short attention span. For most though, it has just enough drama, humour, whimsy and the happy, heartwarming ending to be entertaining for the whole family.

All in all I give it a handsome 5/5, and well worth my anticipation since the trailers aired!

I enjoyed it.

I thought that perhaps it seemed a bit disjointed at times, like it wasn't sure if it was a film about a boy called Hugo or the filmmaker Georges Méliès, and ultimately just sort of switched between the two.I also thought that it took a little while to get going.

Saying that, I thought it was otherwise a very lovely and very charming film, and although I've already seen it in 2D I've heard so many good things that I'm very much looking forward to seeing it in 3D next week.

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"When I was younger, I always wanted to be somebody. Now that I'm older, I realise I should've been more specific."

It's A Toast to me.

Verdict: If other filmmakers utilize the technology this well I shall find myself strongly considering a 3D television in the future (Tax Refund?).