Friday 9 December 2011

Hugo

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Hugo, 2011
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Possible Oscar Nominations Include: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Costume<!- google_ad_section_end ->

Synopsis: It is the 1930's. And a little orphan boy named Hugo Cabret, lives in a train station in Paris, France. His father died in a fire, but before he did, they learned how to fix things. Clocks, wind-up toys, etc. But they're best project was automaton. But it's broken and rusted, and missing pieces. After his father dies, Hugo goes to live with his uncle, apprenticing as a clock repairman in the station. But his uncle is gone too, before long, so he lives in the train station, with automaton, trying to fix and repair it. During this time, he meets a cranky old man who works at a toy shoppe in the station, and his adventuresome god-daughter, Isabelle. When Hugo discovers that Isabelle, and her god-father Papas Georges might have a connection to do with his broken automaton, he embarks on his biggest adventure yet.

Before I write anything, I must apologize. I didn't like this film. Yes, yes, I know. You're crying out "but it's Martin Scorsese!" and shouting "but it's won so many awards already!" and bellowing "there's so much Buzz for it!" but I, whom frequently has unpopular opinions, didn't enjoy the film that much. But let me review it properly.

I thought the story was paced well. It wasn't action packed, but it wasn't slow either. There was always a new development going on, and Hugo was discovering something new. Asa Butterfield, who played Hugo, I thought, was terrific. He completely stood his own ground, and led the film on a journey. He was a good crier, which seems to be a terrible hard thing to do, especially if you are a younger male actor. And he did cheerful really well, and mischevious, and the whole time I was quite convinced that Asa simply was Hugo, and had no doubt about it. He gave a great performance.

Another solid point for this film was the Score. Howard Shore's score was really darling, and I quite enjoyed it. It was cliche French, but this was the 1930's Paris! It was fanciful! It was cliche! And I think Shore did a splendid job. I'd love to see this nominated, and I'm sure it has a good chance.

The tribute to Silent Films was very well done. When we get a big reveal from one the characters, it is very well done. This is where we see some fantatsic art direction, costume, makeup, etc. That was my favourite part of the movie, and thought it was a great tribute to Silent Films, and the entertainment industry of those days. This was definitely the strongest part of the film, while I felt the storyline with Hugo and Isabelle, and the automaton was weak.

On the other hand, I saw this film in 3D. I don't know if it's because I don't fancy 3D that much, or if this is true, but I thought it was too 3D. Like, the 3D was too much that I almost felt like I was watching an animated film a lot of the time. It didn't look realistic, and I think that really bothered me. While the Art Direction in general was good, I didn't think it fantastic. Though this could be the fact that the 3D was trying way too hard. Anyone else agree, or am I crazy?

Overall, the film disappointed me. I try to never go into a film with any sort of high expectations, but it'd been talked up so much that I got my hopes up. Additionally, I probably would've liked it better in 2D. Things wouldn't have looked so animated and unrealistic and...distracting. Asa Butterfield certainly impressed me, as I mentioned, and Chloe Moretz was fun and charming as Isabelle. It was an interesting storyline, and after taking an Introduction to Film Studies class, I felt having the knowledge about silent films, and even having seen some of the ones glimpsed at was fun. The Silent film era was an interesting one, and I loved the focus on that, and the background in it, which was true and interesting.
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Will it win Best Picture at this years Academy Awards? Certainly not, though it stands a very good chance for Art Direction, Costume and Original Score.<!- google_ad_section_end ->

Rating: 6.5/10


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