HUGO 3.75****
This is a sweet and gentle tale, full of unexpected warmth and depth. It is the story of Hugo Cabret( Asa Butterfield), an orphan and keeper of the clocks at a train station in Paris. His only connection to his deceased father is a broken-down automaton ( mechanical man) the two were repairing before his father's death in a fire. When Hugo is caught stealing parts for the automaton by George Melies, an old owner of a toy shop in the station (Ben Kingsley), his booklet of sketches related to the curious mechanical man is taken from him by Melies. Attempting to retrieve it, he meets Isabelle, the goddaughter of Melies. Together, they begin to unravel the mystery behind Kingsley's character and help bring his true identity to light.
Asa Butterfield as Hugo gives an outstanding performance as Hugo and Chloe Grace Moretz shines sublimely as the precocious Isabelle. Of course, Ben Kingsley gives a terrific performance, powerful and poignant. He plays a broken man anguished by the shadows of the past. Sacha Baron Cohen's role as the obsessed Station Inspector is more than a one-dimensional figure. He is not merely some comic antagonist tossed in for the sake of slapstick. He is also a fascinating and well-developed character in his own right.
There has been some objection to Martin Scorsese as the director of such films as “Taxi driver” and “Goodfellas” making a “children’s” film. But “Hugo” shows that a so-called children’s movie doesn’t have to be silly or dumbed down. This is an intelligent and wondrous movie… a real tribute to the magic of cinema. It reminds me of why I love movies so much.
The visuals of the movie and brown tones along with the 3D effect makes it look like a combination of typical Scorsese style but at times with the 3D it also looks like a beautiful pop-up book. There are many strong human scenes in Hugo that are signature Scorsese. One particular scene was when Papa Georges catches Hugo and Isabelle snooping through his old movie drawings. In actor Kingsley's hurt reaction, "I trusted you. You're just cruel…just cruel" there viewers can see the Scorsese stamp in revealing of the character's soul through the actor.

It’s one of the ten movies nominated for Best Movie in the Oscar race.
Clark