Movie Review: Hugo starring Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz

Reviewed by First Mate Keira

Title: Hugo
Director: Martin Scorsese
Rating: PG
Run Time: 126 min

Summary: Hugo Cabret lives inside the walls of a train station in Paris, France. If he’s caught he’ll be sent to an orphanage. Usually he’s pretty good at being unseen but sometimes that station inspector gets really close to catching him when he steals. His passion is fixing things and most important to him to fix is an invention his father found in a museum before he died. To fix it he steals parts from an old toymaker, but when the toymaker catches him Hugo finds that his second most prized possession is stolen instead.

Why I saw this movie:

It looked like a cool steampunk kids film and I knew it was based off a book. I figured if I liked the movie I’d get the book from the library.

Likes:

The way the story is filmed, it’s visually stunning and has this steampunk vibe.
The station inspector’s role in the story is cute and so is his romance with the florist. He like most other characters in the film have an element that’s broken ready and waiting for Hugo to fix.
The old film clips inserted into the movie to help narrate and depict key points of the story. Most pay homage to filmmaker George Méliès.
Hugo and Isabelle’s friendship and the two of them creating an adventure together. I especially like the vocabulary byplay they have going on.
The ending and how it all turns out between Hugo and the toymaker.

Dislikes:

The station inspector throwing kids into his cell and calling the police in to throw them into an orphanage. Considering the station inspector is an orphan himself, I felt he should have a little more compassion.

Book vs. Movie:

(Not all differences, but some that stood out)

The ending is different. In the book, we know that the story is being told by Professor Alcofrisbas, who is later revealed at the end to be an adult Hugo, master magician. In the movie, a young Isabelle is starting to write down the whole adventure into a journal.
The scene where Hugo is hanging from the clock is not in the book, though he does hide from the station inspector in his room after a chase sequence.
In the movie, Hugo dreams that he causes a train to jump tracks and crash through the train station. This comes from watching a film clip of a train coming into the station which freaks the audience out. In the book there’s only a discussion of this film clip.

Buy: Hugo (Two-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

Rating: 5 Treasure Chests