Hugo 3D

I need to explain the circumstances under which I watched this film. I need to clarify the preconceptions I had before I saw it. I need to do these things because I’m going to go on to tell you that Hugo was extremely disappointing, practically boring and undeserving of the critical praise it appears to have garnered. Fact is, my circumstances and preconceptions were hugely responsible for how annoying my experience watching this movie was, and no review of mine can be separated from that.



So my preconceptions of the film, forged from the TV trailers, magazine previews and reviews, basically made me figure this was a movie about a kid getting involved with bringing to life some strange robot creation, and as a consequence magical things would occur. Now there’s a slim chance that I got the wrong end of the stick but, honestly, I think all involved in the marketing and even writing about Hugo deliberately set out that impression to get more people to go and see it. Sure, I had heard that this was also director Marin Scorcese’s love letter to cinema, but I figured that would be a more subtextual embroidery thing for those that were clued-in to pick up and enjoy.

Boy did I get that wrong.

Thus informed as above, the circumstances by which I watched this movie was with Mrs. Comet and my two very young nephews. I dismissed Arthur Christmas and Puss In Boots because I’d heard Hugo was the better movie with outstanding 3D. God bless them, those two nephews of mine put a brave face on it despite getting restless in their seats and intermittently asking if it was nearly finishing (this was around halfway through!). Never mind children with short attention spans, Hugo made me want to scream at the screen, “Get on with it!”

So let me say this outright: Despite all the trappings and promotional suggestion, Hugo is not a children’s film. Somewhat stupidly it really tries to be one, and thus muddles itself even more. There’s not enough wonder or magic or action. There almost is, but then there isn’t – and that makes it a half-hearted children’s film kids won’t love and a magical movie for adults that’s got too much infantile immaturity.



Take Sacha Baron Cohen’s Station Inspector. He’s there, patrolling the station, speaking in a far-flung cockney accent (accents are all over the place here – everyone speaking either cockney, clipped or French-accentuated English) on the lookout for waifs and strays so he can capture them and whisk them off to an orphanage. He is ostensibly the ‘villain’, and little Hugo living in the train station is constantly playing a cat and mouse game of hide and seek. It’s fun, at first, and a third act chase sequence is the standout high point, and Cohen’s performance is a twisted mixture of officious buffoonery, but if Hugo was playing purely for adults then he’d get a lot less screentime.

The film channels an Amelie vibe, in terms of some of its whimsical tone, it’s French setting and in the numerous incidental characters littered around the train station that are in it just enough to convey some minor romantic love story vignette. It’s arguable whether they make the film feel more magical, or just make it last longer than it needed to. I’m more or less of the opinion it was the former, though I can imagine viewing a version of the film that didn’t feature them and probably not feel like something was missing.

It’s start out really well. The first twenty minutes are a delight, actually, and had me convinced I was all set for a wonderful time. Showing the young orphan Hugo (Asa Butterfield) whipping around behind the clocks of the train station (it’s explained how it is he came to be there, maintaining the timepieces) Scorcese has his camera float and glide and spin and drift restlessly. An opening shot surging through crowds on a train platform, in 3D, looks really quite amazing. Indeed, I cannot fault the direction. Hugo is an impressively-made film and, indeed, the 3D is both in-your-face spectacular and used to create depth and dimension to tremendous effect. Alas Hugo just can’t sustain itself in terms of momentum; the plot doesn’t match the visuals.

Enter Ben Kingsley as grumpy shop owner Papa George. He encounters Hugo and discovers he is trying to build an automaton (the aforementioned magic robot) and seems strangely upset about the whole thing. There’s an entire mystery then built around who Papa George really is, and what he was, that Hugo and his friend Isabelle (Chloe Moretz) embark on. The truth of the mystery is found in old movies and contains absolutely nothing magical, unless you’re like Martin Scorcese who is clearly charmed to the hilt by the wonder of his youth spent with these films.



Hugo is an indulgent love letter to cinema from Scorcese and, whilst he has translated that into some remarkable 3D, neat references (many more than I picked up on, I am sure) and the occasional upbeat action piece, there’s no getting around the syrup-thick coating of schmaltz and the crushing sense of disappointment that the big reveal, the climax, is nothing more than a trip down memory for an old man. Trust me, if they’d sold the film on the basis of what it actually is then a lot less people, like me, would have wandered into their multiplex and bought a ticket.

It’s not that this is bad but remember I was sat there expecting magical robots and kid-friendly excitement. Hugo is not that film and I was getting antsy in my seat on their behalf because of it. So due to the annoyance of the marketing and hype being met with the total shattering of expectations, Hugo for me remains a film that I can only advise as a no-go for you.