Ode to genuineness and mechanics in the era of digital mixing and editing - and using them

Rating: 6/10 (26 December 2012)

The movie is visually effective, shiny and has several great performances (Ben Kingsley as Georges Méliès / Papa Georges, Chloë Grace Moretz as Isabelle, Christopher Lee as Monsieur Labisse, above all), but the plot is uneven, with frequent lengthy camera stills, and too much focus on gear wheels. The main star - Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret - is not so impressive as his coeval Thomas Horn in the role of Thomas Schell in the movie from the same year Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (moreover, the two movies have many common topics and values). And Inspector Gustave (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) resembles officer Crabtee from the cult series 'Allo 'Allo! - perhaps too much.
With regards to Scorsese, he has made better movies, and it not very credible to long for history and "real" cinematography with the help of digital tricks and state-of-the-art technology. Additional points from me for depicting historical events.
Can be recommended as a family movie during holidays (for example, Christmas) as a tutorial entertainment.