Two Movie Reviews

I went and saw two really good movies this week and I'd like to tell you about them.



The first was "Hugo" which my family and I saw on Wednesday. It is based on novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick which I read a couple of years ago. It followed the book, from what I could remember, very well.

Plot: The story is about a young boy who manages the many clocks in the Paris train-station. Besides working the clocks he is trying to fix an automaton which can write; he hopes it will have a message from his father who died in a fire.
The acting was very good, especially from Asa Butterfield who I had seen before in "The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas"(I didn't recognize him till the end though). Asa was able to portray the right emotions and facial expressions that his character would be feeling; and it was rather remarkable since he is quite young. I look forward to seeing him in Ender's Game as the lead role. I really wish I could have him play the main villain as a child in my book series; he would play the part perfectly(he even has the right look) but he wouldn't be able to since he will be too old soon :(. It was also quite neat to see many popular British actors that I've seen in the Harry Potter films appear, such as: Helen McCrory, Frances de la Tour, and Richard Griffiths.
The effects were great as was the set; it look very realistic and the cinematography was awesome! I especially though the beginning where they were shooting down the passage and the depth was awesome(we were watching it in 3D, so that probably added to the effect). Their was just the right amount of suspense and character development which added to the movie significantly. Plus it was cool to see old film that most likely hadn't been on the big screen in over a hundred years, in the theater.
All in all, it was an awesome movie for a family to go see(my little brother even liked it) and I would fully recommend you see it. :)



The next one was "War Horse" which saw a couple of hours ago. We had been studying WWI in history this year and thought it would be a good film to see(we are currently in the Cold War).

Plot: The movie is about a boy who raises a horse to plow his families horse(after his father had bought it on a whim during a horse auction). The boy teaches the horse how to plow, thus saving his family from ruin. However, a rain destroys their crop and his father has to sell the horse to the army to be able to pay the rent. The boy, named Albert, ties a ribbon his father got in the Boer war to his horse's bridal and the man buying the horse promises to return the horse to Albert. Through many different happening the horse manages to visit many different places and sees all sides of the war.
The story was very well done, sad, and the portrayal of WWI was very realistic. I enjoyed seeing the different and really, how the common soldier is never very different from the other side. I need to read the book :)
The acting was very well done; it seemed like they were actual people and not just actors going through the motions(which always makes me happy to see). There were also a few actors I recognized from Harry Potter and other shows and that was cool to see.
I would definitely recommend this movie; it's not something for young children to watch but if you were able to watch the Umbaran arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars than you can watch this. All in all, it was an amazing movie and you should go and see it. :D