Hugo

I will repeat what I said after watching an unfinished version of “Hugo” a few weeks ago: I have seen the future of 3-D moviemaking, and it belongs to Martin Scorsese, unlikely as that may sound. In this case, of course, the future may also be the past. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if “Hugo,” Scorsese’s gorgeous and meticulous 1930s fantasy re-creating life in a Parisian railway station in extraordinary detail, is the best movie anyone will make in the current post-”Avatar” 3-D wave (which has already ebbed considerably).

If you were bewildered by the news that Scorsese was apparently blundering into Steven Spielberg’s territory and making a 3-D family spectacle for the holidays, wonder no longer. No doubt “Hugo” has enormous potential when it comes to the box office and the upcoming awards season. It’s a heartwarming, old-fashioned yarn about an orphan who finds love by giving love, who finds a purpose in life by restoring purpose to a wounded and bitter old man. It’s often a breathtaking visual spectacle, full of delightful flights of imagination, large and small: a view of Paris from a railroad clock tower, drawings that come alive, an adorable little clockwork mouse. It offers a rich and varied cast of adult actors — from Ben Kingsley to Sacha Baron Cohen to Emily Mortimer — supporting youthful leads Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz, as a pair of intrepid orphan adventurers.

Heartbreaking, funny, passionate and impossibly beautiful, Scorsese's "Hugo" is a must-see, says Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com. The full review here.