The children in the film, Asa Butterfield and Chloë Moretz, do a serviceable job but, as is usually the case with younger actors, their performances come off as forced and wooden most times. Kingsley is perfect here and the highlight of the movie. Ben Kingsley is Papa Georges (Méliès) and, in the film, he is a defeated man who mourns the death of his legacy following World War I. Scorsese makes his message perfectly clear in the final half of the movie, which happened to be my favorite part of the film. The movie focuses on the fact that so many of Méliès' films were lost over time and the tragedy of these classics from one of the earliest, most important filmmakers, ceasing to exist. At a time when most "movies" were just real-world situations recorded to celluloid (such as the famous train pulling into the station), Méliès created fantastic stories and mythical tales to entertain, filling his films with special effects and dramatic costuming. The movie incorporates a loose interpretation of the life of Georges Méliès, a stage magician and an early innovator in world of cinema who realized the potential for the new medium of storytelling. Unfortunately, HUGO will probably be one of those films that fades into the background (if it hasn't already) and find most of it's loving coming from the film school crowds. My own daughter (4, going on 5) gave it an honest try when we sat down to watch it and made it 40 minutes or so before she fell asleep. It's not so much an adventure as a journey of discovery, and little kids might not find themselves too involved in the story. The family crowds will probably enjoy it, but younger children will likely be put off by it's slow pacing and lack of excitement. Scorsese fans might be put off by the fact that this film is a family-friendly adventure it doesn't exactly fall in line with Scorsese's usual subject matter. As I mentioned, this movie will only really appeal to certain people. An encounter with a curmudgeonly toy store owner and his granddaughter Isabelle will send Hugo on a journey to repair the automaton and discover its long-hidden secrets. When he's not busy with his job of keeping the station clocks ticking, Hugo spends his time repairing an old automaton his father rescued from museum storage. Hugo is an orphan whose father died in a museum fire, and he lives behind the walls of a Parisian train station. HUGO is a film meant to bring out attention to the movies long-forgotten and remind us of the magic behind them, told through the adventure of a young boy named Hugo Cabret. Scorsese has been a vocal supporter of restoring old movies in hopes they'll be saved from oblivion (rightfully so) and this movie, based on a children's book by Brian Selznick, is his method of beautifully pleading his case before millions of people who've probably refuse to watch black and white movies on the basis that they're, you know, black and white (yes, I know those sorts of people). But let's face it: this isn't your average movie, it's a love letter. It's still an interesting story, wonderfully acted, and packed with talent both in front of and behind the camera. I'm not saying it won't appeal to the general masses. cinema snobs, though I use the term endearingly). Martin Scorsese's HUGO is a family movie that will probably only cater to a niche crowd: people who appreciate movies as art (e.g.
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