_You may be scratching your head and wondering, “a family movie from Martin Scorsese? WTF? The dude who brought me Goodfellas and Taxi Driver? No way!” Well, Hugo isn’t necessarily a children’s movie in the same vein as The Muppets, which is also opening this weekend. It’s slower, more methodical, and definitely more beautifully-crafted. Sure, it’s about a boy in his quest to uncover a secret, but, more importantly, Hugo is a film that’s meant to be a work of art for those who love movies.

At one point, Hugo (Asa Butterfield) takes his new friend Isabelle (Chloe Moretz) to her first movie, and she turns to him and says, “Thank you for the movie. It was a gift.’’ Hugo is Martin Scorsese’s gift to cinephiles in that he lovingly recreates many of the very first films ever shown but gives them a 3D makeover. This is one instance where the latest technology really does add to the overall package of a film. Hugo is a film for dreamers, but more about that after the jump!

_Hugo, the screen adaption of the 2007 YA novel/picture book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, tells the tale of young Hugo who lives alone in the Paris train station in the ‘30s after the death of his father (Jude Law) and the disappearance of his drunk uncle who wound all the station’s clocks. In order to avoid being thrown in the orphanage at the hands of the Station Inspector (Sasha Baron Cohen), Hugo climbs through catacombs and hides in the walls while stealing croissants and small gadgets from a toy shop run by Papa George (Sir Ben Kingsley). He uses gears stolen from these toys in order to fix a small mechanical boy that his father was trying to fix shortly before he died. Of course, fixing the machine isn’t all that easy because the automaton needs a key in the shape of a heart and Papa George has stolen Hugo’s notebook which has helpful instructions from his late father. Along comes Isabelle, Papa George’s goddaughter who’s longing for adventure, to help Hugo discover the secrets behind the automaton.

Of course, Hugo and Isabelle do discover the secret of this machine, which leads them to Papa George’s past and offers beautiful glimpses into the early days of filmmaking, including a wonderful 3D adaption of Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat by the Lumiere brothers in which the first film’s audience shrieked at the sight of a train coming straight at them. While the loving details to films past and wonderful imagery of dreams and moving pictures is awesome for a devout film buff, I wonder if children would find Hugo as beautiful and moving as I did.

That being said, Hugo is one of the best uses of 3D in recent years (notwithstanding the current Harold and Kumar Christmas movie, of course). It is beautifully shot and directed, with gorgeous cinematography. You can practically feel the train’s steam in your face, and Paris has never looked so magical. Plus, Scorsese angles for kiddos' attention with Baron Cohen’s long nose protruding out of the screen just as far as his trusty canine friend’s snout. Hugo is a feast for the eyes.

Hugo is also incredibly touching with rich characters, even small ones played wonderfully by Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Richard Griffiths, and Helen McCrory. You’ll be hard-pressed to not be charmed by Hugo and his cohorts, especially the lovely Moretz.

Hugo is a loving homage to the original filmmakers and is a charming, delightful film that taps into your dreamer side, but I’m not sure all the kiddies in the audience will be as dazzled and charmed as the grownups.

--Darcie Duttweiler