DVD Review: Hugo (2011)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer

MPAA: Rated PG for Mild Thematic Material, Some Action/Peril, and Smoking

           With this year's Oscars now behind us, I begin my long journey to watch all the best picture nominees and begin my journey with the family adventure film "Hugo". Hugo stars Asa Butterfield as the title character Hugo Cabaret, who is a young boy who lives in a train station following his father's death. Hugo spends all his time stealing parts to work on his father's final project before his death. This leads

Hugo to meet an older gentlemen played by Ben Kinglsey and his God Daughter who is played by Chloe Grace Moretz. The story basically focuses on Hugo and the affects he had on all the people he met on his journey. 

            After seeing this film I can honestly agree with this film being nominated for best picture. This is one of Martin Scorsese's best film and I was able to enjoy the film all the way through. What I enjoyed most about this film was how Scorsese put in many highlights of the history of cinema. Growing up with all types of film, this was an incredible part of the story to see. The visuals in the film were also really amazing even though I never saw it in 3D, I believe this film's visual stood out clearly on its own. The story of this film was also really good and I was surprised how well it was as this was promoted as a film for kids.

             Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island) gives probably my favorite performance of the film playing the lonely toy store owner who Hugo tries to help get back the life he used to have. Kingsley portrayed the character just with the right amount of darkness and anger that didn't take the film into dark of an area and keep it audience friendly. Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) also keeps proving that she is one of the most versatile actors as she proves that if she is playing a superhero vigilante or an adventure seeking girl, she just makes you believe that character and I believe she helped make the Hugo character a little better. The film runs at a time of about 2 hours and it never seems like the film really lacks even when they go into flashbacks about the past which is where I feel a lot of films fail but Scorsese proves that even at his advanced age that he is still one of the best film directors out their.

              This film doesn't have a lot of negative moments, the only problems I really had is that I didn't like the actor who played Hugo as I felt that he played the character of Hugo, a little to weakly and just went off and cried all the time which I didn't see as real believable and I don't really know if you blame the actor or the writers for that one. Also I wasn't a big fan of how everything fit together real nicely. The characters didn't have to really work for anything and any time they would go after a new part of the puzzle, they were given the answers to all their questions without any trouble. I can see that they may of wanted the film to focus more on the characters than the mysteries it provided, so that is a flaw I can definitely overlook in the film.
                 When most people look at the films nominated for best picture, they usually complain that these are films that nobody would ever watch and that they are basically just critic favorites but I can honestly agree with the choice to nominate this film for best picture as it was a beautiful film that with its great visuals and amazing storytelling kept me engaged for the entire film. I recommend that you rent this movie as soon as possible as the films message about family and hope are something people of all ages can enjoy.

Final Grade: A-