Hugo

So I had wanted to see this movie ever since hearing Chloe Moretz talk about it in an interview for Let Me In. I had high hopes. When I saw the trailer for the movie, I was less than impressed but regained a little more faith once I heard everyone raving about how great it was. I found myself in LA the other week and could think of nothing better than to catch this movie in all of it's 3D glory in beautiful Century City. Surprisingly the movie has only brought in about $97 million compared to it's estimated $170 million budget.

The movie is about a small orphaned boy named Hugo, played by Asa Butterfield, who lives inside of the clock rooms at a train station in 1930's Paris. He is soon befriended by the daughter, played by Chloe Moretz, of a local shopkeeper, played by Ben Kingsly. They soon set off on 'an adventure' to unlock the secret of an automaton (steampunk robot type thing) that Hugo and his late father had been working on. Their adventure soon leads them to discoveries about their families.

Without giving away too much with my horrible synopsis above, the plot was fantastic. The trailer was highly misleading as the movie was not the run-of-the-mill fantasy adventure story. Everything was very much grounded in reality. The characters were so robust and colorful it didn't matter if they were complex or not. The way the characters and the plot tied in together was just incredible and highly believable. There is not a movie-lover out there who would not enjoy the story of this film. That may be a slight hyperbole, but I don't care because the plot was that good.

I am anti-3D for sure and almost always opt for the 2D version when possible. That being said, I was told this was the best 3D movie yet and that even James Cameron himself complimented Scorsese on the way he used 3D in this film. I will say that the 3D in this movie was amazing. The shots and angles were filmed to make the most of the 3D instead of it being an afterthought or bonus as in most movies out there. The 3D was an integral part of the movie and made such a fantastic experience. I hope that will be captured on the DVD so more can enjoy this amazing feat of technology. Ok, enough about the 3D. The cinematography of this movie was simply beautiful from the color correction to the camera movements and angles. Just breathtaking. The first sequence of the movie had to have been computer generated due to the extremely long rolling shot in and out of the inner working of the clock. If it wasn't computer generated, I want to see an anatomy of that scene. Scorsese did not cut any corners in this movie and it really paid off.

The kid in the movie, Asa Butterfield, did a really great job. He was very genuine and likable on screen and has a pair of the most amazing eyes ever. Chloe Moretz, who is one of my favorite up and coming actresses, did a very nice job as well. Her character was more of a plot device in most situations but she still pulled it off brilliantly. Ben Kingsly, I mean, Sir Ben Kingsly did great, as always. His character was the most fascinating character in the movie and was so great watching him in the second half. Sacha Baron Cohen came out of nowhere in this film. He was unrecognizable and so much larger than life, it was quite entertaining.

It was an experience watching this movie. You were transported into the story. I will assume the same effect will be produced in 2D as the cinematography was simply beautiful. I think the marketing of this movie was way off because they marketed it as a kid's movie and while there are children as the main characters, this was no means a children's film per se. It's really a movie 'for the child in all of us'. The story and beauty of the film are very universal across all ages. There are very exciting and fast paced sequences which will appeal to children no doubt but the message and tone are directed toward movie lovers of all ages. Shutter Island had shaken my faith in Scorsese and this film totally makes up for it. I know I've gone on and on about how great this movie is, so let me see if I can see some downsides. Nope, there aren't any. Although there are some audiences out there who don't enjoy such clean-cut movies with good morals and themes and this movie probably wouldn't suit them. "Machines never come with extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured that if the whole world is one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for a reason."