Much like Cinema Paradiso and The Artist, Hugo is a love story for the art of filmmaking. It is also a tribute for the earlier days of movie magic, highlighting the works of Georges Méliès.
The story, based on Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, written for the screen by John Logan, focuses on an orphan who lives alone in a Paris railway station. It has Dickensian elements in it but stays focused on the central theme – film magic.
Directed by a confident Martin Scorsese and acted by a wonderful cast which includes Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, and Sacha Baron Cohen, to mention a few, the film enjoys a sense of flow. Highlighting the sense of enchantment, Scorsese enlists 3D and other cinematic and thematic tools and effects to enhance his storytelling.
Film lovers will have a blast while others, less educated about the history of the moving images, will still enjoy the multilayer story.