3D looks like it is here to stay this time-and if they could all look as good as Hugo, that would be a alright with me. The opening shot is a long zoom from the city of Paris down to a pair of eyes and it was pretty damned impressive. I especially liked the snow-it was one of those old school 3D effects were you wanted to reach out and touch the flake in front of your face.
Hugo lives in a 1930s Paris train station where he has taken over the job of winding the clocks from his missing Uncle. He spends a lot of time hiding from Sacha Baron Cohen, who spends the film doing his best Inspector Clouseau as a Train Station security guard. Hugo also runs into a toy maker played by Ben Kingsley who has secrets he doesn’t want to share. And I always like seeing Christopher Lee- here he plays a sage bookseller who gives Hugo a copy of Robin Hood.
The robot/automoton had a significant role in the story, but I was expecting it to be a bit more like C3P0 and a bit less like a ventriloquist dummy. I had never heard of the book, so I went in with no idea what the film was about. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing.
I don’t go to the movies much any more-there are so many just flat dumb-ass movies now that there is seldom anything worth going to see. But every once in a while something good does make it through the Hollywood Machine and Hugo is one such film. I’m not sure it quite ranks all the Martin Scorsese’s “Masterpiece” comments I have seen, but Hugo was a damned good movie.
Go on and see Hugo-and pony up for the 3D, it really works in this one.
