Hugo

I'll make no bones about it. 3D is not, and will never ever be, my thing. I find it (as loyal readers will know) annoying and totally unnecessary and it is only there to make money and to make films more difficult to pirate. And yet, as I sat watching Hugo (in 3D), I found myself enjoying the stereoscopy element of the film. I felt slightly guilty in this enjoyment, as you do when you laugh at someone who trips over comically but, nevertheless, the 3D (and I never thought I'd say this) added to the film. Oh dear. Next I'll be saying that any Jennifer Aniston film is a metaphysical critique on social conventions...or maybe not.

Hugo is the latest offering from Martin Scorsese and is slightly unusual for a director whose past work includes Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Shutter Island. Starring the epic Ben Kingsley and the promising Asa Butterfield, Hugo examines the magic of the beginnings of cinema by following Hugo, a young orphan child who winds and repairs the clocks in a 1930s Paris railway station. Scorsese and the production designer, Dante Ferretti, have created a distinct visual world, where even the snowflakes seem to have been touched by cinematic enchatment. Of course, these snowflakes were flying out of the screen 'at' me but, as I shall explain later, it kind of worked. Much of the story was set in the station which, with its bustling atmosphere and beautiful sets, was an enchanting focal point for the narrative. The narrative itself was engaging and was surprising in that it favoured dialogue rather than action sequences which seem to be the default in many children's films. Studios need to remember that little Charlie can sit still without an action set piece being rammed down his popcorn-filled throat every five minutes.

One of the stand-out aspects of the film was the performances which were, for the most part, impressive. Sir Ben Kingsley plays Georges Méliès, the pioneer of early cinema, and commands the screen with a sensitivity and forcefulness which allows fourteen year old Asa Butterfield to excel in his delightfully engrossing role as Hugo. Butterfield's ability to capture both the optimism and uncertainty of youth in a single glance leads me to think that he has a bright future as the face of British acting talent. A strong supporting cast gelled with the central performances, although I felt that Sacha Baron Cohen's role as the station inspector was slightly misjudged. Although his performance wasn't bad, his presence in a film such as this was like inviting your grandma on your honeymoon: unsuitable. On another level, there were some pacing issues in the first hour and the scene where Hugo's friend (and the god-daughter of Méliès), Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), is knocked over by the passengers in the station seemed to jar with the rest of the film.

And now, to the 3D. As I thought about the film on the way home from the cinema, I realised why I had found the 3D bearable, even enjoyable. Every poster for a 3D film proclaims that it will 'immerse' you in the world of the film. However, the 3D effect does quite the opposite. Putting on those silly glasses reminds the audience constantly that what they are watching is, indeed, only a film; a mechanical process. 3D is more self-conscious than the feeling you get when you walk past a policeman. But this is why Hugo works. The film focuses on the mechanics of cinema – the noises of the film projector, the whirl of wheels, the clunk of ratchets and the click of cogs, all of which play an important part in the sound design. Scorsese's love of cinema is clear in the film. And it is because of this that the 3D works. Hugo is about the magic, the mechanics and the technicalities of cinema and as you sit in the audience, looking like a member of a Where's Wally? convention, you become aware that the 3D is complementing these themes. And when you go with it, it's quite good fun.

So Hugo. Go and see it in 3D. Pay that little bit extra, even if it means that studio bosses will be laughing all the way to the bank this Christmas. Oh, and Scorsese says he wants to make all his future films in 3D. Whatever next...?!

Clapperboard Rating: * * * *