Excellent movie, especially in the second half

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2011)

I liked this movie from the start, although I did have issues with it. The basic idea of a kid living in the infrastructure of a train station is really cool, and his home, with a million gears, is extraordinary. At the same time, I was put off by an early chase scene in which a rather cartoonish villain chases after Hugo. It felt very much like something you'd see in a kid's movie, and while Hugo is very kid friendly, for the most part it does not fall into kid movie clichés. But there are a few, and the chase is one of them.
While the whole living in a clock thing is cool, I felt the movie really took off when it started focusing on the second part of the story, which I won't give away. My girlfriend thought this might be where it would lose kids, but I don't think so. The movie becomes better and better, and is really fascinating and touching by the end.