"Hugo"
2011
PG
Produced by: Johnny Depp, Tim Headington, Graham King, Martin Scorsese
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Written by: John Logan
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield
Paramount Pictures



4.93/5 Stars
Consensus: Hugo is as historically important is it is entertaining and accessible. I will probably see it a billion times in future film classes and I will probably be excited by this prospect each and every time the film is announced. I would love to own this film and would watch it again and again without shame. A near perfect film.

Plot:13-year old "Hugo Cabret"(Asa Butterfiled) is an orphan who lives inside a train station, his job is to wind the station clocks and keep them running. He wants, more than anything, to fix an automaton that he and his late father had been trying to repair, to do this he steals and pillages for bits and pieces of machinery from a local station shop owned by "Georges Melies" (Ben Kingsley). He is one day caught by Melies and his life becomes involved with the great mystery surrounding this man.

Directing: Scorsese has established himself as one of the great auteurs of our time and this film is yet another tribute to his brilliance. Following suite with his previous endeavors Hugo feels like new ground for the director, while staying true to his unique and wonderful style. One piece that was particularly thrilling was the classic "Scorsese long shot" included at the very end of the film. One can always anticipate this shot in a Scorsese film, and although its small, its well worth anticipating.  This unique flare Scorsese has is among my favorite of all the camera work he does. Its inclusion at the finale was both satisfying, and very effective. *****

Acting: The film has a star studded cast that includes the likes of Christopher Lee, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Ben Kingsley. All of whom are familiar veterans that have proven time and again their talent on screen(Cohen is a relative new comer who has been proving his value more and more of recent date). The child actors did a good job, however Butterfield at times felt forced or over played. Or the concave, he seemed blank and underplayed. One scene in particular, as Butterfield has reached an emotional low, seemed very well...acted. Rather than believing one was watching a child cry, it felt as if you were watching an actor act out a child crying. Now that said Butterfield was great for his role and his performance hardly took away from the film, it added to it greatly. The aforeto mentioned scene only stands out in contrast to actors such as Ben Kingsley who disappear from the screen entirely and become their character. Naturally Butterfield is 13 and did a fine job for what he was meant to do, he gets many concessions and frankly there are many better known actors that would also pale in comparison to Kingsley. ****1/2

Editing: The editing in Hugo was fascinating to me. The use of clocks and visual effects as part of the story line was marvelous. The opening shot of the film is a gear turning and the gear fades into a landscape shot of the city of Paris. Brilliant. The editing was intriguing and notably good. Whereas much of the time editing appears invisible to the audience and is extremely subtle, the editing in Hugo was in notably good taste. Another impressive use of editing was the incorporation of old Georges Melies films within the film. It was impressive to see the old clips incorporated into the film so flawlessly.  *****

Art Direction: Another category that was spot on. The entire film lived and breathed 1930s Paris. The entire film is a visual treat. The use of cogs and gears as a motif throughout the film worked perfectly with the theme. The design of sets, characters, and so forth was perfect. As a big tribute to Georges Melies the film mirrored his vision of capturing dreams. This was extremely prevalent through the film. I was thrilled with the art direction in all aspects. *****

Cinematography: The film was well composed and well shot. The framing and use of machinery was notable and well done. The film is extremely good looking and well composed. Similar to True Grit(2010) one could almost mute the film and just look at the beautiful shooting and be happy. *****

Screenplay: Characters where well drawn, everything flowed, dialogue made sense, it was great! What stood out to me is the vast amount of side plots and subtle motifs written in with other characters in and around the train station. The use of these quite sub-plots brought general euphoria to the film. As important as the main characters were, including the side characters as reflective of the overall status of the plots served to make the whole film more relevant to the audience. The plot included a villain for which we can find pathos (Cohen) which is always appealing, and nice to see the humanist side of Hollywood, rather than the sadistic and absolutist side often show. *****

CGI/Special Effects: The most particular example of quality CGI in the film is that of a train crashing through and running out of the Parisian train station. It looked wonderful and vividly realistic. Again, the beginning shot of the clock gears fading into a Paris landscape was beautiful and brilliantly engineered. Overall the CGI/Special Effects where extremely good and in extremely good taste. *****