Hugo Review: I, Automaton

Martin Scorsese has made one of his most personal films in Hugo. It is a tad strange to say that about a children’s movie in 3D, but there it is.

The title hero, Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), is a young boy who has a knack for fixing things. An orphan, Hugo secretly resides within the walls and passages of a Parisian train station and keeps all of the many clocks in the building running on time. Hugo’s world of 1930’s Paris is filled with clockworks, movies, and magic, but he is also alone.

That is, except for a tin-man.

Shown in flashbacks, his father (Jude Law) once found and brought home a broken automaton. They began rebuilding it, but his father dies before it was completed. Hugo’s only desire is to finish restoring the mechanical man, and that’s where the real adventure begins.

Ben Kingsley plays a toy shop owner named Georges Melies, who is tired of young Hugo stealing his wares. Georges gives Hugo a job in the shop to work off all of his stolen goods. There he meets Georges god-daughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz). The two quickly become friends as they avoid the Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) and unravel the mystery surrounding the connection between the automaton, his father, and Georges Melies, who they realize is involved when a heart-shaped key around Isabelle’s neck fits perfectly into the automaton.

From that plot summary you wouldn’t think the movie also endorses film preservation and  includes an introduction to Film History 101, but it does and in a very entertaining (and kid friendly) way.  If you know who Georges Milies is, then you understand the early cinema connection. If you don’t, then you are in for a treat.

Hugo is Scorsese’s  love letter to cinema.  His passion for the art of movies shines in every scene and it’s contagious.  Hugo isn’t just one of the best family films this year, it’s one of the best movies of 2011. I never thought I would be saying that about a 3D movie but there you have it. Hugo has adventure, mystery, thrills and laughs.  I even teared up a little…a couple times…maybe more, I don’t know, but that’s  neither here nor there. Hugo has everything for a great family film experience.

The 3D is amazing. Each shot is uniquely framed and filmed to enhance the visual effect. Some of the scenes have a nostalgic Viewmaster feel to it that draws the audience into the Parisian world with a childlike wonderment. Hugo was intended to be a 3D movie and it not only takes full advantage of the technology, the 3D actually enhances the storytelling.  Objects don’t just jump out at you, scenes are framed and shots are layered. The 3D isn’t just an effect, it’s connected to the story itself in a way that I haven’t seen before. Some might find this a bit ham-fisted, but those people are forgetting that it’s a kid’s movie.

The young actors, who take on the bulk of screen time in the film, do a fantastic job. Chloe Grace Moretz has already proven herself with previous strong performances and she is captivating as the adventurous Isabelle. Asa Butterfield is more than up to the task as the lead. In one specific scene that takes place in Hugo’s hidden room in the station, he has a breakdown out of frustration and hopelessness because it seems that all he has been working towards has been for nothing. Asa is shockingly powerful here, surprising for his small stature, and by the scene’s dramatic end one thought occurred to me: This kid can act.

Ben Kingsley has always been a favorite actor of mine, and when he’s in a quality movie like this I’m reminded how good he can be. Sir Ben is in good form as the emotionally wounded Melies.  Sacha Baron Cohen plays a likeable antagonist and does his best keystone cop slapstick routine with a slight British humor twist.

But really, the acting could have been just dreadful and the movie would still be good. That’s how well the story is told, how well the scenes are shot, and how skilled these filmmakers are. Hugo might be trying to teach some film history, but it is a master class in filmmaking.

Like all good movies, Hugo sticks with you well after the credits roll. It gives you things to ponder and new ways to see the world around you. Will every kid like Hugo? No, but most will. I would guess Scorsese’s hope is that the children in the theaters watching it will feel just a little of how Hugo feels about the automaton and how Scorsese feels about movies.  That they should be enjoyed, cherished and most of all, remembered.

Images courtesy of Jaap Buitendiijk and GK Films.