A Good Half-Movie

Rating: 3/10 (2 December 2019)

I wanted to like Hugo when I saw it in theaters years ago, but was sorely disappointed. I remember thinking when watching the trailers that it was some CGI animated film. So when watching it, I was surprised it was live action lol
And that is a huge part of the problem I have with this movie. It is artificial and inauthentic, except for a very small part.
People talk about how amazing the visuals were. Yes, they were, when they were real. Otherwise, it was some of the weakest CGI I've seen on film.
And let's not even get into the humor or children's movie approach. Scorsese CANNOT make a humorous movie. Okay, some of his movies have had dark, humorous moments. But the comedy in Hugo is horrible, very amateurish. And he can't direct a Children's movie to save his life. Usually films like this need to have a sense of wonder, and you need to feel something for the kids. But this was really the weakest part of the film.
And what was with every French person speaking in a British accent? Really? This movie was set in Paris, not London.
The only good parts were the Georges Melies reminiscing parts. Those were well-done, and interesting. But that is only a fraction of the movie. Framing that around a children's story was a misfire for Scorsese.
Perhaps this should have been a good 1 hour TV drama? The extraneous stuff, like Sacha Baron Cohen's station security guard, and the relationships between the various workers in the station, could be left out. But most of all, Scorsese should not have used so much CGI. Horribly done, and really takes you out of the film.