Review of Hugo (2012) by Dave M — 11 Feb 2013

Hugo made the kid in me a little bored, but made the film enthusiast in me elated. All those years in film school finally paid off! It's a movie for those of us who've been raised by movies. As a stand alone kid or family film you might be thrown thanks to the horrible marketing strategy to make this look like anything but a Scorsese picture. It is very much a Scorsese picture and a love letter to the history of cinema. Half the thanks belong to Brian Selznick's book which it's based on; The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The other half belongs to Mr. Scorsese's astounding ability to adapt the story in the best use of 3D I've seen from a live action film. Inspirations came from all over the place; from Harold Lloyd to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, but the focus is on film pioneer, George Melies played brilliantly by Sir Ben Kingsley. I can't believe I sit here writing about a fantasy Scorsese picture about George Melies starring Ben Kingsley. Marty was one of my first inspirations into film, and then I wrote about George Melies in multiple film courses throughout college. I'm sure I'm not the only critic writing the same thing; however, how many critics can say that while working as a production assistant they were able to walk Sir Ben Kingsley to the bathroom and wait outside while he dropped a deuce? I can, and bitches, all this comes full circle.

I don't think Marty completely succeeded when he set out to make a kids film because, mainly, it's too smart for young kids to appreciate. That's something most kids movies today could benefit from, but I think when you're dealing with a fantasy film rooted in reality and focusing on history, you're gonna find a lot of bored youngsters. But fuck them. He also made it for us film lovers and for that I was beyond pleased with Hugo.