JoJo Rabbit

“You’re not a Nazi, JoJo. You’re a ten year old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club.”

Filmology Rating: 3.33 out of 4

‘JoJo Rabbitt’ was written and directed by Taika Waititi and introduces Roman Griffin Davis starring as Jojo- a young boy in Hitler's army who finds out his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), in their home. His imaginary friend also happens to be Hitler (Waititi). Prior to seeing this film, my main concern from the trailers is that it looked to be crutching on being too quirky. However, that is not the case. The gimmicky aspect of the film, Hitler being Jojo's imaginary friend, is simply the back-drop of a character piece completely centered on Jojo and Elsa and their opposition to one another.

This film really is Jean Renoir's 'The Grand Illusion' (previously reviewed) meets Spielberg's 'Empire of the Sun' with Waititi's quirky comedy. It's similar to 'The Grand Illusion' in that it tackles the idea of people from opposing perspectives coming together to form meaningful relationships regardless of race, religion, or place of birth- a theme that is still relevant to this day.

What was most intriguing, while paralleling 'Empire of the Sun', was it addresses the horrors of growing up too fast. It's the idea that childhood is a very fragile time in someone's life and the impact war may have on it.

Not only does this film address those themes, but also how we glorify violence, where hate can root from, and how scary being lonely can be; Jojo is so desperate to be accepted by others that he embraces the idea of being a Nazi because it's the one group of people who will accept him; it's very cult-like. It's also very odd to hear fellow critics criticize the tone of this film and how Waititi tackles the subject matter. He is dealing with a sensitive subject, but the fact that he makes Nazis complete buffoons and the butt of almost every joke makes those critics also look like buffoons themselves because they clearly didn't understand who the comedy was directed at and making fun of. And, making Nazis a joke, thus takes all power away from them. By the way, this film is very funny.

The cast itself is very good. The most shockingly unterrible aspect of the film was Rebel Wilson. I've been very critical of Rebel Wilson in the past because many filmmakers just didn't know how to use her. But Waititi obviously knows how to handle actors and casts a spectacular film including himself as Hitler and Roman Griffin Davis in his first role playing terrifically off of Thomasin McKenzie. In more supporting roles, Stephen Merchant also makes a fun and brief appearance. Alfie Allen is by Sam Rockwell's side who both are very comedic. Rockwell having a much larger role than Allen in that Rockwell has an important role in Jojo's life and arc.

What this film proved most to me was that though Waititi directed a large tentpole blockbuster, Waititi is still in touch with his indy roots and his style of filmmaking; he has not been sucked up into the echo chamber as most filmmakers do. It's a funny film when it needs to be and a darkly serious when as well that has much to say about the society we live in today.

Rating: See It

-Nolan