Film Review: Jojo Rabbit
Anti-Nazi media in the United States has existed almost as long as the regime itself. Cornelius Vanderbilt IV created Hitler’s Reign of Terror, a combination of documentary, reenactment and previous newsreel footage in 1934. Charlie Chaplin made The Great Dictator six years later.
Taika Waititi was careful not to call Jojo Rabbit an anti-Nazi film, despite focusing on a 10-year-old boy in the Hitler youth whose imaginary friend is a version of Hitler played by a Polynesian Jewish man. Instead, the film markets itself as an “anti-hate satire.” The film argues that people are good at a base level and that ideas are what drive people to do evil things.
None of the actual people in the film are all that bad. Scarlett Johansson’s Rosie is a secret member of the resistance who harbors Elsa, a Jewish girl, in her and Jojo’s home. Thomasin McKenzie once again knocks it out of the park as Elsa, even though the script gives her little to do but change Jojo’s outlook on life. Sam Rockwell’s Hitler youth leader Captain Klenzendorf is a fundamentally good and goofy person who takes it upon himself to save Jojo on multiple occasions after Rosie slaps him around a bit.
Waititi’s Hitler is a different imaginary beast. He is cruel, manipulative and sadistic. He continually pops up to give Jojo just the worst ideas. Waititi plays him as a sort of buffoon until he realizes that Jojo is changing his mind. Then he gets erased from existence in one of my favorite uses of the f-word in a PG-13 film.
The film tries to blend comedy and tragedy with a modicum of success. It’s far more successful with the latter, especially toward the end of the film. There’s a couple (admittedly predictable) twists and turns that throw everything into chaos right at the end. You end up rooting for everyone to make it out alive.
Rabbit’s comedy is a little more hit or miss. Waititi’s performance as Hitler is the source of most of the laughs, as is a scene where the term “Heil Hitler” gets thrown around by Major Toht-types to the point of meaninglessness. Outside of that, the film’s comedy doesn’t necessarily land. That’s a disappointment for a film coming from the guy who made What We Do in the Shadows and Thor: Ragnarok.
Jojo Rabbit takes a lot of chances. Not all of them are successful, but enough are that the film is a worthwhile watch. If nothing else, Taika Waititi displays a penchant for tragedy not apparent in his previous work. It makes me excited for what comes next from him, even if Jojo Rabbit wasn’t entirely successful.
Final score: 7.5/10
