Movies are our special place...

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2011)

Martin Scorsese doing a family movie? Really? After a spew of some of the most violent gangster movies ever made, one could possibly think that Scorsese has gone daffy for taking such a vast turn in another film genre. I eventually overcame this bafflement and went to see "Hugo" this morning. Having the entire theater to myself, I found myself having an ultimate experience in movie magic.
I had the assumption that this movie is about an orphan named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who wanders endlessly in a train station and finds something magical about it. I'm only partially correct, there is an orphan and he lives in a train station, but there is no actual magic per se in this movie. Rather the focus is on the orphan's late father (Jude Law) and a toyshop owner (Ben Kingsley). Somehow there is a connection between the two. All the while he meets some friends and desperately avoids a dimwitted, yet cruel train station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen). The plot in it of itself is relatively simple, but the level mystery that Hugo uncovers about the toyshop owner keeps the film interesting. The movie does not fly by; it feels like a two-hour movie. Yet not one single minute is dull.
The cast is very good, especially Sacha Baron Cohen. I can't help but compare him to the child catcher in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." He's well groomed, has a whip, and even has a vicious dog. All he needed was a net to catch children in. Ben Kingsley at first comes off as a grumbling, cranky old man, but as the story progresses, he becomes a thoroughly likable character. I am also very pleased that Christopher Lee plays a significant part in this film. The actor is going on 90 years old and he is still in movies—simply outstanding! The child actors though are what keep the movie together. Asa Butterfield does not have many lines, but he delivers them with the appropriate emotion with each scene. Much of his acting talent comes from his facial expressions, for he is able to portray sorrow and despair very well. Chloe Grace Moretz outshines Asa though as the more outgoing and steadfast Isabelle. What I enjoy most about this movie is the production quality that the filmmakers put into it.
The set and costume designs are some of, if not the best I have ever seen in a movie (leave it to the imaginative geniuses of Dante Ferretti and Sandy Powell). They certainly help shape the film's time period. The cinematography by Robert Richardson is stunning and Thelma Schoonmaker's editing is flawless. Howard Shore's mystical score adds another dimension to the film. It's nice that he created an entirely different sound for "Hugo" and did plagiarize off of himself, unlike some more prominent film composers. I imagine this must have been hard for Shore to pull off, after doing such inspiring work for "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy." "Hugo" is a well-crafted, well-acted, enjoyable movie that is both humorous and sad, and it pays a wonderful homage to the silent film era. As Hugo says in the feature, "Movies are our special place."