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Hugo Movie Review


By: Guest Writer Tyler Garling

LEESBURG, VA – “Time hasn’t been kind to old movies.” This is the perfect quote to sum up Martin Scorsese’s Hugo. The movie takes place in a 1930s Paris train station where young Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives. Hugo is an 11-year-old orphan who roams through the walls of the train station always making sure things are in order and constantly avoiding the Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen). Hugo becomes wrapped up in a mystery that involves his deceased father (Jude Law), a toy maker (Ben Kingsley) in the train station, and the toy maker’s goddaughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz).
There’s one very special thing in Hugo’s life: an automaton. Many of the commercials for the film make it seem that the automaton is the center of the plot. While it plays an important role, the most important thing in the movie is movies themselves.
Time has not been kind to old movies. In today’s day and age, virtually no one has seen the classic films that started it all. How many people have seen A Trip to the Moon? Not many people can say yes. Hugo reminds me of why I love movies. They’re what you dream of. Everyone has seen a movie they adore; everyone has reenacted scenes from movies.
Martin Scorsese wants to enlighten us about why movies are such an important part of our lives. The film uses many techniques that you would find in silent films. It does do one modern thing perfectly: the usage of 3-D. The 3-D in Hugo is, easily, the best I’ve ever seen in a movie. It’s almost as if Hugo’s reality is colliding with the fantasy that is the train station. The images are sharp and a masterpiece of cinematography. James Cameron, director of 2009’s Avatar, said that the 3-D use in Hugo is better than anything he’s seen, even better than what’s in his own movies.
The story of Hugo is intriguing. As you learn more and more about Hugo’s relationship with his father and the automaton, you’ll want to know the mystery behind the strange machine. Things get even more interesting when the toy maker is completely against the drawings that are found in Hugo’s notebook. Hugo and Isabelle work together to fix the automaton and unravel the mystery.
Hugo is a delight for anyone. It reminds you that movies are more than just moving pictures on a screen. They’re works of art that touch the hearts of anyone who watches them. Hugo is one of the best movies of 2011, and it provides an important message: be kind to old movies.

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    Harris FerrariniFeb 15, 2012 at 10:57 pm

    Hugo is definitely a good movie, It deserves a lot.

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