"Hugo" Review

I can't remember the last time I've been as disappointed by a film as I have been by Hugo. The newest effort by Martin Scorsese, based on the 2005 novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, has been receiving rave reviews across the board in addition to possible Oscar nods, but the film that I saw was vastly underwhelming in comparison to its glowing reception.

The titular Hugo is a young orphaned boy who lives in a train station in Paris, secretly fixing the station's various clocks under the pretense that he is his uncle, who in reality has gone missing. In addition to the clocks, Hugo busies himself trying to fix a strange mechanical man that his father (Jude Law) discovered prior to his death. Hugo hopes that the mechanical man, or "automaton", will be able to spell out a message from his father if it is fixed.

Bad luck strikes Hugo, however, for after he is caught stealing from a toy store owner (Ben Kingsley), the notebook containing the plans for building the automaton is taken from him. At this point, Hugo has only one piece of the automaton that he still needs to find: a unique heart-shaped key, which, miraculously, is owned by the toy store owner's goddaughter, Isabelle.

After the automaton is fixed, the two discover that Isabelle's godfather, "Papa Georges", is really Georges Mélies, a famous director of hundreds of silent films in the 1900s and 1910s. Mélies has become a depressed old man who is convinced that he has been forgotten, and Hugo's new mission is to re-invigorate the old spirit that still lies within Mélies.

I did not care a lick for either of Hugo's child stars. Asa Butterfield's portrayal of Hugo is incredibly dull. Hugo could be a very sympathetic character in the hands of a more competent actor, but Butterfield is so lifeless in his role that you feel nothing. Chloe Grace Moretz clearly tries her best, and is admirable in doing so, but is done in by her horrendous English accent, which slips numerous times and never stops sounding forced. Since the story is set in France, the "translation convention" is presumably in effect, and Moretz could have used her natural American accent without causing any major problems, but alas she did not.

Hugo's supporting cast includes several acclaimed actors, most of whom do not have their talents taken advantage of. Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) is acceptable as the bumbling Station Inspector, who is determined to catch Hugo and send him off to the orphanage. Cohen plays his part with gusto, but the part in question is rather one-note, serving only as a method of creating long chase scenes and an underdeveloped subplot involving his crush on a flower shop owner. Other actors in the picture include Christopher Lee, whose appearance as a librarian is utterly and totally pointless; Jude Law, who appears briefly as Hugo's father, and does a serviceable job, for the few minutes he appears on screen; and Ben Kingsley as Georges Mélies, who is also quite good, and certainly succeeds at being likable, but never excellent.

A good three-fourths of the way through the film, Hugo suddenly decides to stop being boring and becomes wonderful. The films and life of Georges Mélies are discussed in detail, and what stories they are, filled with wonder and beauty, and one can almost see the beginnings of the modern film industry taking shape as one watches. Unfortunately, this brief descent into enjoyment ends up being more to the film's detriment; compelling a story as Mélies' career is, not enough time is devoted to it, and the moments when we view his film A Trip to the Moon only remind you that you could be watching a film that isn't Hugo; one that is infinitely better than it, despite being over 100 years older and 130 minutes shorter.

The other silver lining in Hugo is its genuinely dazzling special effects and cinematography, which the advertisements focused on almost exclusively. The cinematography work is excellent throughout the picture, showing off many great shots and angles. This, however, only serves to make Hugo feel like all flash and no substance, with the camera always going for dynamic angles even if a subdued one would have worked better. Action sequences are also fantastic, showing off great special effects and a good eye for entertainment; yet, most of them are pointless. At one point, Hugo has a dream involving a train crashing through the front of the station and hitting the ground. This is a tribute to an old silent film. If you know this, the scene is rather neat; if you don't, it makes no sense.

Hugo aims to be a tribute to Georges Mélies and the early years of cinema, and at that, it succeeds. Unfortunately, it fails at providing any sort of interesting framework around that tribute. Perhaps a simple Mélies biopic would've have been a better idea.

Awful