I’ll be the first to admit that I hate 3D movies, and always try to take the 2D option if at all possible. Despite my better judgement, I allowed trusted movie reviewers to persuade me into watching Martin Scorsese’s first 3D film with the glasses on. And for this, I thank them. I still hate 3D films, and probably would rather watch this particular film in 2D every time I see it again (which will be many times), but Scorsese has shown the world how it should be done! Which is just one of the huge number of reasons why, seeing Hugo this summer is a must!

This eloquent child’s movie is just as pleasing, if not more, for an adult viewer. Set in an early Twentieth Century Paris train station, Hugo explores human love and purpose. When Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) loses his father (Jude Law) in a fire, he is taken to live with his uncle who works the clocks in a train station. Further tragedy ensues and the old, drunk uncle disappears, leaving Hugo to live alone in the station walls, tending the clocks in his stead. However the evil station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) is always on the look out for thieving urchins with no parents, so that he can lock them up and send them to the orphanage.

Hugo must be careful not be caught, as he steals his only meals from the station cafe as well as taking mechanics from clockwork toys at the toyshop. He uses these items for a very important project. A project which is halted when the toyshop owner (Ben Kingsley), confiscates his notebook. As he attempts to get the book back, Hugo enlists the help of the toyshop man’s God-daughter, Isabel (Chloe Grace Moretz). But what the two children do bring back is far more painful and exciting. A long forgotten past.

The story is well crafted and exciting, with just enough intrigue the whole way through. Filmed in an old, soft golden haze it nostalgically praises the past. A Postmodern glass raised to a Modernist era. Scorsese’s love of film and its history is continually evident throughout the story, and the film can be read as a tribute to early cinema. Rich with history, the story’s combination of fact and fiction is perfectly balanced.

The performances from big named actors like Kingsley and Baron Cohen are excellent; humorous and believable. But it is the children who really shine in this film. Born in 1997, Butterfield already has quite a list of credits to his name, including Nanny McPhee, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas and even a few episodes of the hit TV show Merlin, and seeing him in Hugo you can see why. I’ve always thought that anyone who can make fake crying look real must be good, and Butterfield sure pulls out some brilliant tears, as well as excellent reactions and timing. Moretz also slips beautifully into character, portraying a loveable, excitable young girl full of big dreams and big words.

Both the score, by Howard Shore (which like the film itself is a reference to Parisian art in the ’30s), and the carefully chosen camera angles and mise en scene, work together to position the audience in times of fright and sympathy. The clockwork that fills most frames ticks throughout the soundtrack, shaping what the audience sees and how the characters move. Movements which are highlighted further by the use of 3D (an idea which drew Scorsese to 3D in the first place). The 3D also depicts the snow, and even dust particles, in a unique way.

Scorsese has created one of the most transformingly beautiful and aesthetically pleasing films I have ever seen. His tribute to the beginnings of a medium of storytelling that both he and I love, is done with such eloquence that he brings back the excitement and concept of endless possibilities of cinema, found within those early films it celebrates. In the end, all I can say is that Hugo is Amazing! I give it 5 torches.