Overrated

Rating: 6/10 (10 December 2011)

I haven't read the book so I don't know how well it is based on the book, but I can comment on other things.
Overall, I think with an 8.5/10 it is quite overrated - I agree with the ones who wrote it before. I mean before seeing the movie, looking at IMDb and the trailer, I was expecting a very thrilling fantastic story with wonderful 3D effects. I was very pumped up before seeing the movie, but now I am a little bit disappointed.
The 3D effects were good, I am not knowledgeable enough to say that it is the best 3D so far but they were good, although sometimes my eyes were weary of them and I felt the need to take off my glasses and look at the screen with bare eyes. It might be because I was sitting at the front, pretty close to the screen, but still I found myself asking if the 3D is really necessary for this film. I mean it is a matter of choice, but I think it would do without the 3D as well.
The storyline did not contain many action scenes and failed to be very interesting for me at times. Seeing the trailer, I was expecting more of an action film, but it did not turn out to be. To be honest, one of my friends even fell asleep during the film. I was not bored as much as she was, but there were times where i thought the film was much too slow-paced. I think I wanted to see more action - and more magic, learning that George Melies was an illusionist.
I really liked the acting tho. Especially Hugo, Asa, was pretty successful as well as Isabelle -they were both pretty good at acting. Ben Kingsley - no words for him.
In addition, I really liked the juxtaposition of comical and dramatic elements of the movie, for example, especially the contrast between Sacha Baron Cohen's funniness and Asa's despair, in the scene while he was trying to run away from him - a scene towards the end of the film.
In conclusion, I think the film is a little bit overrated. Scoresese did a good job with the 3D, but the story was boring at times. A little bit more action would not hurt the film, and would actually make the 3D much more successful and useful for the film.