“A 3D family adventure from legendary Director Martin
Scorsese doesn’t sound quite right, does it? Anyway, he’s had a crack at it,
but I kind of wish he hadn’t. The story revolves around a boy called (you’ve
guessed it) Hugo (Asa Butterfield) - an orphan, clock keeper and thief, he
lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on
anonymity. So far so good.
But his secret life is put into jeopardy when he befriends a
girl, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), and discovers that the key around her neck
can unravel the mysteries plaguing his existence. A cryptic drawing, a treasured
notebook, a mechanical man and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father (Jude
Law) form the backbone of this intriguing mystery that sounds better on paper.
With a cast also featuring Christopher Lee, Ray Winstone and Emily Mortimer,
you can’t help but wonder where it all went wrong.
Well, the film is far too long for starters. The opening
gambit – exploring Hugo’s world - captivates, even if Sacha Baron Cohen’s pernickety
station-master grates, but there’s something very magical about the whole
shebang (and it looks stunning). The trouble is, the clocks soon stop ticking,
and plot-wise, everything hinted at never clicks in to place; instead we are
treated to more than an hour of Scorsese obsessing over his favourite bygone
era. Hugo is a passenger, not the star, there’s little conflict, and the
adventure runs out of steam very quickly, preferring to take us on a history
lesson with flashy dream sequences instead. Next time I’ll walk.” DW
No comments:
Post a Comment