An adventure,or not an adventure

Rating: 6/10 (19 February 2012)

Inadvertent presented as a children's adventure before it was released, also the book itself, all in all gave me a lot of expectations from this movie, and were all contributing to what should have been a great adventure, which is exactly what Isabelle(Chloe Grace Moretz) says and hopes when she first encounters the mysterious and secretive Hugo(Asa Butterfield). But that never happens,the movie has a very slow tempo that never seems to find its pace,and while the two children give very good performances, by the end of it I was left wondering why wasn't I more caring of them.
One of the positives is for certain the cinematography and visual effects,which give splashes across the screen with elegant, visually vibrant flair. Also the way Paris is being portrayed, the view from clock tower from were Hugo stands is quite breathtaking, he train station itself, and the costumes are all Oscar worthy.
This could have been a charming children's movie, that instead of taking more of a spiritual approach,and trying to connect the viewer with the characters, is leaning towards being more of a tribute to the early history of cinema and to one of the movies's key pioneers,the great Georges Melies, performed superbly by Ben Kingsley. This doesn't mean Scorsese has taken the wrong route, just that it could have crafted a better use of the story.
The performances are very good, standing out are Ben Kingsley and Christopher Lee as Monsieur Labisse who are at their best. Also Sacha Baron Cohen who gives a more comical approach to his character shows that he has some acting skills instead of doing dull movies.
"Films have the power to capture dreams", Georges Melies says, one thing that this movie fails to do, at least in a more soulful way, not just visually, and instead of trying to do just that, Scorsese pays too much homage to Melies, instead of making use of his citation.