MARTIN SCORSESE swaps the mean streets of New York for the wintry boulevards of 1930s Paris for this Oscar-tipped first foray into family films, and also the 3-D format.

Hugo might revolve around the exploits of a pre-teenage boy and deal with themes of childhood innocence and the death of a parent, but this impeccably crafted adventure is too sophisticated for young audiences.

Apart from a couple of well-orchestrated chases and slapstick courtesy of Sacha Baron Cohen with a squeaky leg brace, there is little here to entertain boys and girls the same age as the hero.

Indeed, the slow-paced first half will prove a test for parents, too, especially those without a love for the bygone age of cinema, which Scorsese indulges in every frame.

Twelve-year-old Hugo Cabret (Butterfield) is raised by his father (Jude Law), who works at a museum and has a passion for cinema and mechanical devices.

The old man dies, leaving behind an intricate automaton, and Hugo is forced to live secretly in the station with his hard-drinking Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone), who maintains the clocks.

When the bottle claims Claude's life, Hugo continues to tend the clocks while stealing food from the shopkeepers without attracting the attention of the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen).