Hugo 3D: Movie Review

Hey All!

Check out the trailer below.

That was the trailer for Hugo in case you haven't seen it yet. Isn't it breathtaking? It's based on the similarly titled book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret and is a quite simply a beautifully rendered film, a feast for the eyes.

Although I haven't read the book myself, many have--it was the number one Black Friday book sold in 2007, the year of its release. With a strong emphasis on visuals and cinephilia, the book necessitated a bold and brave leap to the silver screen to do it justice: as you can see above, the story centers around the whimsy of early mechanics and cinema. And who better to direct that leap than Martin Scorsese?

Well... that might not have been my first guess. It's not that I would doubt the ability of the legendary director of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Departed to successfully bring this emotional children's story to life. It's just, you know, a resume of bloody gang movies doesn't seem to flow naturally into the whimsical world of Parisian clockwork and bustling train stations. It was an artistic shift to say the least, but did Scorsese succeed?

Well, sort of.

Let me start with the good parts. Does the film convey the magic of invention, a boy's imagination and pure hearted movie making that characterized the early 20th century? Yes, hands down. The film constantly dazzles the audience with its beautiful architecture and expansive attention to detail. Then, does the film convey a solid emotional arc of lives built up, destroyed and revived? Yeah, it does. I will admit that the movie made me very emotional. So what am I complaining about then, you ask? Well, even with all of that, there's some kind of "umph" missing from the film, something that you sense vaguely at the outset that doesn't fully get addressed.

With a riches to rags to riches narrative, you would expect the story to follow some kind of a Dickensian variation. (A not so subtle allusion to David Copperfield is even made at one point.) However, although it hits on the usual stepping stones, Scorsese's story telling seems burdened under the weight of itself, like a growing child fearful of his own developing strength. Conversations draw out with languid banality. Minor characters flit onto the screen with no real footing. In addition to Hugo searching for his automaton's spare parts the film also seems to be desperately trying to find its true voice.

It's not until well into the film that a very powerful and emotional Scorsese intervenes into the plot, metaphorically, that we are given a sincere vision for what Hugo was meant to be. Unfortunately, as heartfelt as that vision is, it seems like an intruder--as if Hugo (and Hugo) are just conduits for getting across someone else's vision. And even though that vision was utterly breathtaking, I was left feeling like we were missing out on the story we were told we would see. Now, the plot hints that this may have been deliberate, and perhaps that qualifies my sentiments, but even so, I still felt like Hugo was two halves of two different stories.

Overall? This movie ABSOLUTELY MUST be seen in 3D, and when seen such, will provide you a stunning magicality that, more than anything, indoctrinates 3D movie making into the history of legitimate film technique. Go for the experience of film itself, if not for a gripping story line. Perhaps that's what Scorsese wanted: a return to the magic of groundbreaking cinema before we grew accustomed to its illusion.

3 out of 4 stars.