Directed by:
Taika WaititiScreenplay:
Taika WaititiCinematography:
Mihai Malaimare Jr.Composer:
Michael GiacchinoCast:
Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, Archie Yates (more)VOD (3)
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A World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism. (Fox Searchlight Pictures US)
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Reviews (16)
I appreciate some of the scenes filled with funny gags (all with Sam Rockwell and Stephen Merchant), but the story as a whole left me cold. Taika Waititi has style and a lot of humour, but on a dramatic level, he hasn’t convinced me so far. On the other hand, to write a role for Rebel Wilson in a way that her unbearableness benefits the story and adds humour to the movie requires some mastery. One final note: although I can listen to "Heroes" by David Bowie anytime and anywhere, using this song for key scenes of any film after the relatively recent movies The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Horns seems totally cliché to me.
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Ten-year-old Jojo and his imaginary friend Adolf would do anything for Germany. But when the little hero discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl at home, everything changes. Taika Waititi directs a visually very imaginative film that alternates poignant and harsh moments with humorous ones, and Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell give some of the best performances of their careers.
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So much of a different movie than I'm used to seeing in the cinema that it made my head spin a little. However, that uniqueness is at the same time so likable that I forgive the over-the-top humor in the scenes where it wasn't particularly necessary. Just a moment later, a nearly brilliantly timed gag might come, or Taika Waititi might unexpectedly deliver a punch below the belt, for which a viewer in the right emotional state will still thank him.
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I admire Waititi and I really wanted to like JoJo Rabbit, and although I’m sincerely happy that it brought him an Oscar for the screenplay, I can’t avoid being disappointed. The film does have strong and excellent moments (the introduction of the characters, the Gestapo inspection and the entire relationship between Johansen and Elsa) and shines with a distinctive “happysad” signature and the wonderfully directed actors, who couldn’t be any more natural, in particular the child protagonists. Unfortunately, there are many scenes and filmmaking decisions that have a degrading effect – I love Waititi’s comedy, but his line with the imaginary Hitler is quite pointless and unoriginal; but this is the smaller problem. For me, the main shortcoming is the imbalance between the communication and the staging; for instance, the funniest part is suddenly cut off by a scene like out of Schindler’s List, which doesn’t fit in a film where the Nazis are funny caricatures. Likewise with the ending, where scenes of death and war are weirdly combined with parodic snippets – and better not talk about how some of the twists are left unresolved (they let two kids live alone in a big house and nobody cares about them?). I get that this is supposed to be the perspective of a little boy and I really enjoyed his development and varied opinions, but that perspective is not coherent and the secondary characters lack the appropriate educational value (with the exception of the mother, who’s dealt with in a pretty arguable way). All that notwithstanding, this is far from a bad film and Taika manages to transmit his simple ideas in an original and funny way. It’s a shame that they didn’t go for a more uncompromising framework and instead resorted to dodgy and kitschy motives that not even Hollywood studio conventions of can justify. 70%
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The idea is original, where both the little clumsy Nazi and the heroic Nazi commander find a place in the viewer’s heart. The surprisingly playful atmosphere portrays the last days of the thousand-year Reich and also showcases the unusual characters, where the quirky, spirited and very sweet mother played by Scarlett Johansson stands out in front. I still felt such a cozy closeness from the movie, until I found out it was set in the Czech Republic (my home country).
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