A great film....and Martin Scorsese is now my hero....

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2012)

While I have given "Hugo" a well-deserved 10, I am don't think this film is for everyone. Despite the advertising campaign which made it look like a kids' movie, it is NOT. Now I am NOT saying it had adult content. Despite being directed by Martin Scorsese ("Taxi Driver", "Goodfellas" and "Raging Bull"), it is very family-friendly--without cursing, sex or violence. But, I also think younger kids would be totally bored to tears by the film--particularly late in the movie. Don't bring kids younger than about 10--they will most likely feel restless the longer the film progresses.
For folks like me, "Hugo" is an absolute must-see. I adore silent films and of the early silents, Georges Méliès is like a god. I have reviewed at least a hundred and have seen just about every existing film the man made...because they are THAT good. He was a brilliant early filmmaker who introduced lots of camera tricks and made extremely fanciful films. I could try to describe them further, but it's best you just see a few yourself. And, in addition to a plot that eventually turns to a homage of Méliès, it features clips from some of the great silents that I have long loved. In particular, a nice chunk of Harold Lloyd's "Safety Last" is included...as well as clips and posters from "The General", "The Kid", "Judex", "Fantome", "The Great Train Robbery" and many other seminal films any cinephile worth his salt would have seen and loved.
Despite EVENTUALLY being all about the wonderful Georges Méliès, you would not know this through at least half the film. I knew--because I know his films and instantly recognized Ben Kingsley as Méliès--the makeup was dead on the mark. Otherwise, it's an intriguing film about a strange orphan--an orphan that literally lives within the ductwork and walls of a train station in Paris! He has a bizarre obsession to complete the restoration of an amazingly complex automaton that was begun by his father--before the man's untimely death. Yet, despite being anchored by a boy, it is NOT a film strictly for the kids. I'd say more about the plot, but frankly you just need to see it for yourself.
Why I loved this film is not just because it's a delightful homage to silent films (which, by the way, has made Scorsese practically a god among filmmakers to me). It's also because I have never seen a better use of 3-D and the film just looks exquisite--and it seems to have a lock on the Oscars for cinematography and art direction. Now I am NOT just talking about incorporating wonderful 3-D tricks into the film (like they did so well with "How to Train Your Dragon" with all the great flying sequences)--but integrating them in a more artistic manner that is not distracting but enhances the film throughout and makes you admire all the wonderful eye candy. I also loved the great use of computers to colorize flashback scenes to make them appear to be a nice homage to the early hand-colored films of Méliès. And, when it's not in flashbacks, the film simply looks like you are in early 1930s Paris.
I also loved the film because of the nice performances. Sacha Baron Cohen is more subtle and likable here than usual and I loved the performances by the kids in the film. Ben Kingsly was great--but he's nearly always great.
Finally, perhaps the best thing about the film is that it is so different. Watch the film and then try to think of another film that reminds you of "Hugo"--I seriously doubt if you'll be able to do this--the film is THAT unique!