Review of Hugo (2011) by Benjamin W — 28 Nov 2013

On first blush, I thought this was going to be another Tim Burton ripoff with more CGI than story. Boy was I wrong.

Hugo is perhaps one of the better movies I had the privilege of borrowing on DVD of last year. It bums me out that I didn't go to see it in the cinemas when it was released. Taking us back to the time of Oliver Twist and the days where cinema was a rising industry, it follows the story of a boy named Hugo trying to unlock the secret left to him by his father, while at the same time running into an interesting cast of superb actors and dodging the train station's security guard always on the lookout for stray kids to send to the pound, in a manner of speaking. The emotional and fantastical rollercoaster this movie sends you on is a thrill very few films are able to hit. However, on top of the heartwarming story, we are also given the best throwback to old-fashioned cinema of the 21st Century. Next to The Artist, Hugo takes us back to the time when cinema was born, showing us the genesis and origins of the moving picture, and the return of a legend. Though it is all put together in the form of a fantasy, many of the old films depicted are indeed real, and are fitted together perfectly to help round out this 2012 movie.

This is definitely a movie you have to see at least once, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in screen, media and alike.