A couple of weeks back I had the opportunity to see the Movie Hugo. The anticipation was high as it was highly rated, drama, nice story telling family movie. And the atmosphere of the movie, the location and the time (mid 20th century) makes it perfect for a nice story telling movie.
It lived up to the expectation and it keeps you anticipating. And I say "it keeps you anticipating" and when the movie ends, you will be wondering what the anticipation for, at least that's what I felt. Having said that Hugo is not a bad movie at all. If you love drama, love slow story telling movies which are imaginative, historic, adventurous and some love, then don't miss it. You will enjoy and cherish some lovely moments in this movie I tell you that.
**SPOILERS** Story--
So our little Hugo, son of a brilliant machinist is orphaned once his father died of a fire accident. His uncle teaches him to work and maintain the clocks at the railway station and the city. But the kid Hugo had one puzzle to solve which his father was trying to solve before he died.
The automaton, a mechanical man was the puzzle that Hugo was trying to solve. Since his father was trying to achieve the same Hugo felt like it is a way to bond with his dead father to see and understand his father. It meant a lot for him and so Hugo preserved the automaton and would steal stuffs like screws, springs, metal rod to reassemble his automaton.
Eventually gets caught with Georges Méliès, who is actually the real inventor of automaton before the WW-II. Once Georges learns that the boy was trying to fix automaton, he tries to destroy the work book (blue print for fixing automaton). Hugo eventually pairs-up with Isabelle, the god daughter of Georges, loves adventures, mysteries and secrets. So she helps Hugo to rebuild automaton.
Once the automaton was fixed, it opens up the hidden history of Georges and how he was such a great film maker and movie lover. Georges was brilliant in his imagination and introduced some magical innovative film making techniques. Movies and acting was a way for him to be in another planet and he lived every moment of it, until the World War started.
After the war ended, people were no longer interested in movies or magics and he closed his company and destroyed the movie sets in anguish and pain. So fixing the automaton brings back the old film maker George to this world and Hugo finally achieves what he longed for and added meaning to his life after his father's death.
The cinematography, animation, drama are the real heroes of this movie. Chloe was desperate in her acting but was cute. Sacha was brilliant from his character's point of view and the movie had greater screen time for him and rightfully so.
See this film, Hugo, when you have plenty of time and you are not in a hurry and you are with right mood to watch a family drama. I give a 6.5 for cinematography and animation.