Director Martin Scorsese’s new film “Hugo” is heartwarming, family fun. Yes, I know that seems odd coming from the director of the bloody films “Taxi Driver” and “Gangs of New York.” Here is the rundown.

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an orphan in 1930s Paris, and lives in the train station where he maintains the clocks. If CGI shots of the Eiffel Tower were not constantly shown, it would be easy to forget that the movie is not set in London. This Paris is a magical land where everyone speaks English in Dickens-era British accents. One particularly amusing scene is a book clearly written in French being read aloud in English.

Hugo’s late father (Jude Law) was a clockmaker and died in a fire at the museum where he worked. Before he died, he brought home an abandoned mechanical robot called an automaton, and Hugo has made it his duty to fix it.

It is revealed that Hugo has been replacing the parts of the automaton with peices stolen from a toy shop at the train station owned by the grouchy George Méliès (Ben Kingsley).

Méliès catches Hugo in the act of trying to steal a mechanical mouse, and fetches the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), who seems to have a fetish for imprisoning orphans to deal with him. Cohen is hilarious and scene-stealing as the inspector and the only character close to being a villain in this film.

Hugo eludes the inspector, but Méliès maintains possession of Hugo’s father’s notebook with drawings of the automaton, and Hugo desperately tries to retrieve it from him.

Unsuccessful, Hugo enlists the help of Méliès’ goddaughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz).

In the process, Hugo and Isabelle discover that Méliès’ is much more than the grumpy old man he seems.

This movie, targeted very heavily at the holiday family film crowd, is of course very different from Scorsese’s previous films, but I recognized his trademark long, steady shots – there were many – and great character development that created complex, fleshed-out people.

I saw this film in Cinemark’s “XD 3D,” which had a nice big screen and comfy leather seats to sit in. Was it worth the extra $5 per ticket? I didn’t think so. There wasn’t anything in this film that I felt was made better with the 3D except for snow falling at the very beginning.

The film is beautifully shot though, and has a half-animated, half-live-action feel to it. It is like a motion-capture film without the creepy eyes.

The film feels a little long at 127 minutes, but it kept my attention most of the way.

Even though the film is targeted at families, I would recommend this film to just about anyone. The acting is excellent and the story flows wonderfully. It is difficult to not be touched by the end. Everyone loves a reformed Scrooge during the holidays.