Movie-history lesson wrapped inside a good drama

Rating: 8/10 (27 January 2015)

Great movie. A movie-history-lesson wrapped inside a good drama. The central plot is great, and not at all predictable. Scorsese's influences and keen sense of all the great movie innovators that came before him shine through in the story. Scorsese's direction is its usual deft, clever self, and the special effects are great. The 3D effects were great, but not essential to the film (so not a problem if you can only see it in 2D).
Not perfect though. Some of the sub-plots seem unnecessary, and dilute the focus. Asa Butterfield is OK, but not overly convincing, as Hugo. Sacha Baron Cohen is a bit subdued, even dull (by his standards), as the Station Inspector - possibly miscast.
Remaining performances are fine though. Ben Kingsley doesn't do bad performances, and this is no exception. Good support from Emily Mortimer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jude Law, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory and Ray Winstone.