Review: Hugo

After the massive success of Avatar, it seemed for a while that every filmmaker wanted to have a go at experimenting with 3D. Hugo was Scorsese's first attempt with the format.

The result is an unusual and quirky love letter to the early days of the medium itself. But to say more would give the central mystery away.  I came to this film almost completely cold was completely sucked in by it - so avoid if you can the various product descriptions and reviews if buying it online.

The two young leads, Butterfield and Moretz, are both excellent and expressive which suits the film given the low amounts of dialogue.  Plenty of other well known British character actors also shine in often little more than extended cameos. Kingsley gives a wonderfully empathic performance as a man struggling with his past - a theme running throughout the movie.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch it in 3D as one of our sets of glasses has gone AWOL. Hopefully, they will turn up soon (and we'll revisit).

Verdict: Magical fantasy is homage to past in more ways than one.