Hugo Review - 3 Stars

Martin Scorsese lends his talent to this story of an orphan boy living by his wits in the Paris train station in 1931.  “Hugo’s” plot includes a partially working robot whom the boy scavenges parts to complete.  The robot ultimately leads him to toy seller Ben Kingsley and unlocks a secret involving the early days of film.  Asa Butterfield plays Hugo winningly. Chloe Grace Moretz plays the toy seller’s grandchild.  Sasha Baron Cohen adds some comic relief as a station policeman.  Kingsley brings gravitas and Christopher Lee shows up as a book seller.  Hugo starts slow and feels very slow at times but comes alive in the final half hour, as Scorsese recreates the working world of Georges Melies—whose early films include the well known animated rocket into the eye of the man on the moon. Does it deliver what it promises?  Lovely story lovingly done.  Is it entertaining?  A bit slow but a nice pay off.  Is it worth the price of admission?  For film fans.