Hugo Review.

Thoughts: Hugo was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Visual Effects. And it is based on the novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret". However I really did not like care for the movie that much, it had some very good parts and some interesting history but the slow set up never really built up to anything. Some of the praise might be due to the quote "brilliant" use of 3D. Although this is one of the worst 3D to 2D transfers in since the invention of high quality modern 3D. The CGI effects did not look that good on the Blu-Ray compared to a movies like Avatar and Tron: Legacy. I am sure that the 3D looked great in the theater but very few people actually have 3D TVs. The reason I did not like Hugo a lot was not because it was a "Kid's movie" because it really was not a Kid's movie, it just really did not work for me. The most interesting part of the movie was about the origin of film, which was surprisingly accurate. There was a small mystery in the movie and it made me want to know what the answer was but the reveal was disappointing. Actually the best part about the movie was not the movie its self but the special feature on the Blu-Ray about the origin of film and how it was related to the movie, which I will not spoil the movie. So if plan on renting this, try to rent it with the special features because the 20 minute history thing was great and I did not know anything about it before hand.



Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Family, Drama
Release Date: November 23, 2011
Running Time: 128 minutes
MMPA rating: PG


The Good: Interesting history,

The Bad: Slow plot progression,




Plot: The following plot summery is copied from Wikipedia.com.
In 1931, Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a 12-year-old boy, lives with his widowed father (Jude Law), a master clockmaker in Paris. Hugo's father takes him to see films and his father particularly loves the films of Georges Méliès. Hugo's father dies in a museum fire, and Hugo is taken away by his uncle (Ray Winstone), an alcoholic watchmaker who is responsible for maintaining the clocks in the railway station Gare Montparnasse. His uncle teaches him to take care of the clocks and then disappears. He is later discovered to have drowned. Watch the movie to see what happens next.


Plot: 6.5/10- Hugo dragged during many parts of the movie and started slow, which I do not mind if it is interesting like Lawrence of Arabia or has a satisfying reveal like Vertigo. The mystery was not that great. The part about history is the only thing that really appeal to me.

Action: N/A-

Acting: 7.5/10- The child acting was very good and the whole cast was good but no great stand out performances.

Special effects: 7.8/10- This probably look great in 3D but on a 2D Blu-Ray the effects looked fake.

Soundtrack: 7.4/10- Howard Shore's score complimented the film well but was disappoint considering the skill of the composer.

Comedy: 7.0/10- There were a few humorous scenes with Sacha Baron Cohen's character.

Would I Watch This Again: No, there is nothing about it worth re-watching.

Overall: 6.4/10- Despite the interesting premise and fascinating history, Hugo fails to deliver a satisfying movie.


Closing comments: I am one of the few people that did not particular enjoy Hugo, although in my defense the popular review website IGN.com did give the film only 3 stars out of 5, which is similar to my rating.

Recommended for: Family movie fans,


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