For those who were not aware, Hugo, the latest film from Academy Award winning director Martin Scorcese is based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabaret. I have not had the opportunity to read the book, though I’d be interested how much the movie has in common with it, since the project, in its current form, feels so distinctly like the brainchild of its director. What you won’t learn from any component of the marketing campaign is that is not really a kids film. Sure it has child protagonists, and yes there is a certain amount of adventure to be had, but in reality it is, as so many have described it, a love letter to the silent era of motion pictures. In fact, those without much of a film background, will get quite the history lesson here, and may wind up with a greater understanding of the medium itself because of it.

First thing’s first. The 3D. Hugo has long been anticipated for being the first natively shot 3D film since Avatar that would attempt to prove the medium’s potential for the future. The goal was to show that drama could be just as successful in 3D as tent-pole fantasy, and having such a classically trained and distinguished director at the helm served to bring the project some much needed weight. The result is a marvelous marriage of vision and technology, a whimsical tale that makes better use of its 3D canvas than just about any other movie before it. Endless wonderful moments of exploration, of mystery, movement through corridors and giant clock components are a feast for the eyes. Quiet scenes benefit from an added sense of space evoking loneliness and isolation, or claustrophobia and turmoil. This is one you have to see in 3D, if only to see the whole of what the director intended.

The acting is pretty much pitch perfect across the board. Asa Butterfield is more than capable of holding his own, even in his scenes with the great Ben Kingsley. He has a great trepidation in his delivery, a nervous tension that makes you care for him and his plight to fix the robotic man he began repairing with his father. Recently he landed the role of Ender in the adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Enders Game. He’s going to become the young actor to watch out for. Chloe Morentz is a little bit old for her part, but she plays down well, bringing a youthful exuberance to Isabelle that makes her interactions with Butterfield seem genuine. The big surprise is Sacha Baron Cohen, having a surprisingly large amount lot of fun with a chief inspector who’s probably among the most subdued characters he’s ever played. This is Cohen though, so don’t expect anything too serious, but the caricature fits nicely into the world, and he and his dog

have a collection of great conversations that keep the slow spots from dragging too much. A great collection of Harry Potter alums dot the rest of the supporting players, and many of the B-plots of the film steal the show from time to time.

Hugo isn’t a bad film, though it is an unexpected one. The first act doesn’t have much in common with the rest of the narrative, and when the movie drags, it crawls. Children are going to fall in love with the train station and the world created, but most of the silent film history is going to fly right over their heads. Adults, on the other hand, will most likely find themselves charmed by the tone and the manner with which the story unfolds, even if the more childish touches will land unsteadily on their more serious foundation. It’s the kind of movie that you don’t see much of anymore, a story that isn’t particularly marketable, but with a budget to allow the filmmaker to really stretch their legs creatively. Scorcese is among the only directors who could get a movie like this made, and for that alone, he deserves some serious recognition for his work. This may not rank among his best, but you could do a lot worse than Hugo this holiday season.

Synopsis:

Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.