Hugo (2011)

The third movie on my plane ride and I’m at a loss of words.  Hugo is a masterpiece in whole.  I had wanted to watch Hugo for a long time but never found the chance.  Now I know that I missed out.

Let’s not get ahead of myself here. Hugo Cabret is about a young boy who runs the clocks in the train station of Paris. He is searching for missing pieces to find the secret message that he believes his father left him.  This search allows him to meet the owner of a toy shop at the train station called Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley) and his goddaughter  Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz). The story is a story full of themes of finding passion, adventure and magic. Hugo has to find his purpose at the same time as he believes that if he found out this message, he would find himself in a way. Instead, in the process he changes the life of the people he meets.

Let me start with saying that I love the cast.  Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz was stellar in this.  I have never seen the boy who plays Hugo, his name is Asa Butterfield but man, he is a great young actor.  I was impressed with him.  I have seen Ben Kingsley in a few movies and he never fails to make me love him even more. He was so charming and mysterious in this movie.  I love Jude Law to bits and he had a cameo in here as Hugo’s father.  As always, he was amazing in his little role. It also had Sacha Baron Cohen who played Monsieur Inspecteur, who is the guard of the train station and his little story plays out in a cute little thing with Lisette (Emily Mortimer).  Both did a pretty good job and gave the movie a certain dynamic and charisma.  Another character that played a supporting role was Mama Jeanne, Georges wife, played by Helen McCrory. I never knew her name before, but she is a great actress.  This was solid acting all round.

Other than the characters, this movie was visually stunning.  I loved the directing and how they shot the film.  It was beautiful from the scenes of Paris to the insides of the clock towers with the mechanical gears all around.  The background music was also a plus.  When the music had just started at the beginning, I already felt mesmerized.  This movie was great from beginning to end.

I haven’t seen a movie that I’ve praised this much in a long time.  It was simply amazing! I highly recommend it for sure!